Issued  September  28, 1911. 

U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

BUREAU  OF  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY.— BULLETIN  138. 


A.  D.  MELVIN,  CHIEF  OF  BUREAU. 


OF 


CHICAGO  AND  WASHINGTON. 


BY 


GEORGE  M.  WHITAKER,  M.  A.,  Sc.  D., 
In  Charge  of  Market  Milk  Investigations,  Dairy  Division. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE. 
1911. 


Issued  September  23,  if  11. 

U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

BUREAU  OF  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY— BULLETIN  138. 

A.  D.  MELVIN,  CHIEF  OH  BUREAU. 


THE  MILK  SUPPLY 


OF 


CHICAGO  AND  WASHINGTON. 


BY 


GEORGE  M.  WHITAKER,  M.  A.,  Sc.  D., 

In  Charge  of  Market  Milk  Investigations,  Dairy  Division. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE. 
1911, 


THE  BUREAU  OF  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY. 


Chief:  A.  D.  MELVIN. 
Assistant  Chief:  A.  M.  FARRINGTON. 
Chief  Clerk:  CHARLES  C.  CARROLL. 

Animal  Husbandry  Division:  GEORGE  M.  KOMMEL,  chief. 
Biochemic  Division:  M.  DORSET,  chief. 
Dairy  Division:  B.  H.  RAWL,  chief. 

Inspection  Division:  RICE  P.  STEDDOM,  chief;  R*A.  RAMSAY,  MORRIS  WOODEN, 
and  ALBERT  E.  BEHNKE,  associate  chiefs. 
Pathological  Division:  JOHN  R.  MOHLER,  chief. 
Quarantine  Division:  RICHARD  W.  HICKMAN,  chief. 
Zoological  Division:  B.  H.  RANSOM,  chief. 
Experiment  Station:  E.  C.  SCHROEDER,  superintendent. 
Editor:  JAMES  M.  PICKENS. 

DAIRY  DIVISION. 

B.  H.  RAWL,  Chief. 

HELMER  RABILD,  in  charge  of  Dairy  Farming  Investigations. 
S.  C.  THOMPSON,  in  charge  of  Dairy  Manufacturing  Investigations. 
L.  A.  ROGERS,  in  charge  of  Research  Laboratories. 
GEORGE  M.  WHITAKER,  in  charge  of  Market  Milk  Investigations. 
ROBERT  McADAM,  in  charge  of  Renovated  Butter  Inspection. 
2 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

BUREAU  OF  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  April  5, 1911. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  the  accompanying  report  on 
The  Milk  Supply  of  Chicago  and  Washington,  prepared  by  Dr.  George 
M.  Whitaker,  of  the  Dairy  Division  of  this  bureau,  and  to  recommend 
its  publication  in  the  bureau's  bulletin  series. 
Respectfully, 

A.  D.  MELVIN, 

Chief  of  Bureau . 
Hon.  JAMES  WILSON, 

Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

3 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. — THE  MILK  SUPPLY  OF  CHICAGO. 

Page. 

Amount  of  the  supply 7 

Source  of  the  supply 8 

Transportation  and  freight 11 

Freight  rates 12 

Methods  of  handling  the  milk 13 

Methods  of  the  large  dealers—' '  country  bottling  " 13 

Methods  of  the  small  dealers 16 

Handling  of  milk  in  stores 17 

Brokerage 18 

Organizations 19 

Producers'  organizations 19 

Dealers'  organizations 20 

The  milk  drivers'  union 20 

Wholesale  and  retail  prices 20 

The  official  inspection 24 

Existing  conditions 27 

Infant  mortality 29 

The  production  of  high-grade  milk 29 

PART  II. — THE  MILK  SUPPLY  OF  WASHINGTON. 

Amount  and  source  of  the  supply 31 

Transportation  and  freight 31 

Freight  rates '. 33 

The  producers 33 

Methods  of  handling  milk  in  the  city 34 

Dealers'  and  producers'  organizations 35 

Wholesale  and  retail  prices 35 

Laws  and  inspection 35 

A  milk-standard  decision 39 

Federal  cooperation 39 

5 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PART  I.— CHICAGO. 

PLATES. 

Page. 

PLATE   I .  General  view  of  a  high-class  Chicago  milk-bottling  plant 14 

II.  Interior  views  of  plant  shown  in  Plate  1 14 

III.  Undesirable  Chicago  milk  plants 16 

IV.  Chicago  city  milk  plants  of  the  better  class 16 

TEXT   FIGURES. 

FIGURE  1.  Map  showing  source  of  greater  part  of  Chicago's  milk  supply 9 

2.  Map  showing  location  of  country  milk-bottling  plants  supplying 

Chicago 15 

3.  Monthly  range  of  wholesale  milk  prices  at  Chicago 22 

4.  Summer  and  winter  wholesale  milk  prices  at  Chicago 23 

PART  II.— WASHINGTON. 

PLATES. 

PLATE  V.  Handling  milk  for  Washington 32 

VI .  Unloading  milk  at  railroad  stations  in  Washington 32 

VII.  Undesirable  Washington  milk  plants 34 

VIII .  Views  in  high-class  Washington  milk  plants 34 

TEXT  FIGURES. 

FIGURE  5.  Map  showing  source  of  most  of  Washington's  milk  supply 32 

6.  Chart  showing  decrease  in  death  rate  from  diarrhea  and  enteritis  in 
children  under  2  years  of  age  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  following 

enactment  of  milk  law  of  1895 38 

6 


THE  MILK  SUPPLY  OF  CHICAGO  AND  WASHINGTON. 


Part  I.— THE  MILK  SUPPLY  OF  CHICAGO. 

AMOUNT  OF  THE  SUPPLY. 

Exact  figures  as  to  the  amount  of  milk  consumed  in  Chicago  are 
difficult  to  obtain  because  of  the  peculiar  reticence  of  the  railroads 
regarding  the  amount  of  milk  transported  by  them.  Fortunately 
a  similar  condition  does  not  exist  in  other  large  cities.  One  of  the 
best  examples  is  Boston,  where  the  railroads  make  monthly  reports 
to  the  State  railroad  commissioners  of  the  amounts  of  milk  shipped 
into  the  city.  These  figures  are  then  furnished  by  the  commissioners 
to  the  newspapers  and  other  interested  parties.  In  Chicago  none 
of  the  railroads  make  any  such  reports;  some  absolutely  refuse 
information,  even  to  an  official  inquirer,  and  some  make  partial  or 
guarded  statements  on  the  pledge  that  no  use  shall  be  made  of  them 
except  in  general  compilations. 

But  though  official  figures  are  lacking,  some  estimates  can  be 
made  from  which  an  approximation  of  the  amount  of  milk  used  in 
Chicago  can  be  reached.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  average 
daily  per  capita  consumption  of  milk  throughout  the  United  States 
is  0.6  to  0.65  of  a  pint.1  Applying  the  larger  figure  to  2,500,000 
people  gives  812,000  quarts  a  day.  The  consumption  of  milk 
according  to  all  records  available  is  greater  in  the  North  than  in  the 
South;  hence  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  the  consumption  in  a  northern 
city  is  above  the  average.  It  is  also  fair  to  assume  that  the  tran- 
sient hotel  population  of  a  large  metropolis  like  Chicago  would 
materially  swell  the  consumption.  In  526  replies  to  2,000  cards 
mailed  to  physicians,  lawyers,  business  men,  and  laborers  in  Chicago 
by  the  Dairy  Division  the  writers  reported  on  an  average  a  per  capita 
consumption  in  their  own  families  of  1  pint  a  day.  That  rate  carried 

i  Henry  E.  Alvord,  Statistics  of  the  Dairy,  Bulletin  55,  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  p.  48, 1903. 

7 


8  MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 

through  the  whole  population  would  give  as  the  total  consumption 
1,250,000  quarts.  This  figure  is  probably  too  large,  as  800,000  is  too 
small. 

Various  local  authorities  estimate  the  daily  railroad  receipts  at 
between  25,000  and  30,000  cans,  each  holding  32  quarts.  The 
health  department  in  1910  1  estimated  the  daily  milk  receipts  at 
31 ,245  32-quart  cans.  This  would  be  about  1 ,000,000  quarts.  Prob- 
ably the  daily  consumption  of  milk  is  not  far  from  this  amount. 
The  health  commissioner  estimated  that  152,000  cows  furnished  the 
city's  milk  supply  in  1908,  which  would  make  the  average  produc- 
tion 6.3  quarts  per  day  per  cow.  The  census  of  1900  estimates  the 
average  yield  of  milk  for  each  cow  in  Illinois  at  5  quarts  a  day,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  cows  now  producing  milk  for  Chicago  do 
better  than  the  average  for  the  State  in  1900.  His  estimate  for  1910 
was  120,000  cows. 

SOURCE  OF  THE  SUPPLY. 

Most  of  the  milk  supply  of  Chicago  is  produced  within  60  miles  of 
the  city,  and  a  100-mile  circle  about  the  city  would  include  nearly 
all  of  the  dairies  producing  its  supply,  though  in  tunes  of  excep- 
tional scarcity  in  the  summer  sweet  cream  is  shipped  200  miles. 
The  production  of  Chicago's  milk  within  such  a  short  distance  of 
the  city  is  in  marked  contrast  with  conditions  in  Boston  and  New 
York.  Greater  Boston  has  a  population  only  one-third  that  of 
Chicago,  but  most  of  its  milk  supply  is  produced  outside  of  a  50-mile 
circle,  and  some  milk  cars  start  200  miles  from  the  city.2  New  York 
City,  with  a  million  more  population  than  Chicago,  receives  practi- 
cally no  milk  from  within  50  miles,  and  some  of  its  supply  comes 
from  points  as  far  away  as  400  miles. 

The  Chicago  milk  supply  is  chiefly  produced  in  24  counties,  of 
which  11  are  in  Illinois,  8  in  Indiana,  and  5  in  Wisconsin  (see  fig.  1). 
Occasionally  a  little  milk  comes  from  Michigan.  Fully  three- 
fourths  of  the  total  supply  is  produced  in  Illinois. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  source  of  the  supply  of  Chicago  milk 
is  that  production  has  extended  to  the  northwest  much  more  than 
in  other  directions,  and  is  not  evenly  distributed  over  the  milk- 
producing  territory,  but  is  largely  bunched  in  two  counties  in  northern 
Illinois,  which  more  than  equal  the  combined  production  of  the  other 
nine  milk-producing  counties  of  that  State. 

McHenry  County,  111.,  is  the  third  largest  market  milk  producing 
county  in  the  United  States,  being  credited  in  the  census  of  1900 

1  Report  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Health,  1907-1910,  p.  317. 

2  The  Milk  Supply  of  Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia,  Bulletin  81,  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry, 
pp.  8,  41, 1905. 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO. 


with  sales  of  29,194,198  gallons.  It  is  excelled  only  by  St.  Lawrence 
and  Orange  Counties,  N.  Y.,  with  sales  of  39,795,642  and  29,617,072 
gallons,  respectively.  Kane  County  is  the  second  milk-producing 
county  in  Illinois  and  the  fourth  in  the  United  States,  with  24,244,532 
gallons.  The  significance  of  these  figures  will  be  more  fully  appre- 
ciated when  it  is  realized  that  according  to  the  1900  census  there 
were  only  eight  counties  in  the  whole  United  States  where  the  sales 
were  in  excess  of  20,000,000  gallons. 

That  the  milk  supply  of  a  city  as  large  as  Chicago  is  produced 
so  near  the  place  of  consumption  is  somewhat  remarkable,  especially 


J 


FIG.  1. — Map  showing  source  of  greater  part  of  Chicago's  milk  supply. 

when  we  remember  that  its  lakeside  location  cuts  off  the  possibility 
of  any  milk  production  to  the  east  and  much  of  the  north  and 
reduces  the  field  of  supplies  to  the  western  and  southerly  sections. 

In  spite  of  these  conditions  there  is  one  reason  for  so  large  a  pro- 
duction of  milk  comparatively  near  the  city,  namely,  the  fact  that 
Chicago  is  not  surrounded  by  a  circle  of  suburban  towns  and  cities 
or  by  large  areas  of  land  used  by  city  people  for  rural  residences  and 
held  at  comparatively  high  building-lot  figures.  As  compared  with 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Boston  there  is  in  the  case  of  Chicago 
a  somewhat  abrupt  transition  from  the  thickly  settled  portion  of  the 
city  to  farming  land.  This  is  true  to  such  an  extent  that  some  milk 
92431°— Bull.  138—11 2 


10  MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 

cars  take  on  milk  within  15  miles  of  the  city,  and  there  are  two  milk- 
shipping  stations  in  Cook  County,  where  Chicago  is  located,  which 
sold  14,500,000  gallons  during  the  census  year  1900.  So  much  terri- 
tory has  been  annexed  to  develop  the  " greater  Chicago"  idea  that 
some  dairying  is  carried  on  within  the  city  limits,  about  1,400  cows 
being  kept  for  this  purpose. 

The  extraordinary  development  of  production  to  the  northwest 
is  largely  due  to  the  energetic  pushing  work  of  the  railroads  running 
through  that  section  in  securing  shipments  of  milk.  The  possibly 
accidental  locating  in  this  region  years  ago  of  some  dealers  who  have 
become  the  largest  in  the  locality  may  have  been  another  element. 
Land  values  and  dominating  crops  may  also  have  had  an  influence. 
Traveling  southerly  from  Chicago,  one  reaches  in  hardly  more  than 
an  hour  vast  stretches  of  level  fertile  land  admirably  adapted  to 
dairying,  but  largely  devoted  to  corn.  This  land  is  so  valuable 
that  it  is  considered  by  many  farmers  as  more  profitable  for  corn 
raising  than  for  milk  production.  The  assertion  is  frequently  heard 
that  a  farmer  can  not  afford  to  produce  milk  on  such  high-priced 
land.  The  extension  of  the  milk-producing"  territory  to  the  north- 
west has  carried  it  into  the  southern  tier  of  Wisconsin  counties. 
More  recently,  however,  the  business  has  been  pushed  in  a  south- 
easterly direction  into  Indiana,  and  most  of  the  increase  of  late  years 
has  been  in  that  direction.  There  has  not  been  much  extension  of 
milk  mileage  in  Illinois  for  several  years. 

From  1906  to  1908  milk  was  rather  scarce.  During  the  winter  of 
1908-9  there  was  an  oversupply,  attributed  in  part  to  the  number  of 
people  out  of  employment,  in  part  to  the  cry  of  " trust,"  many 
persons  refusing  to  help  fill  the  coffers  of  those  whom  they  regarded 
as  extortionists,  and  in  part  to  the  talk  about  unclean  milk  due  to 
the  agitation  for  more  rigid  inspection.  This  oversupply  continued 
into  the  early  summer  of  1909,  when  a  severe  and  continued  drought 
curtailed  the  supply  and  caused  an  uncomfortable  scarcity. 

During  the  fall  and  winter  of  1909  and  the  spring  of  1910  the  milk 
supply  was  normal,  with  no  excessive  shortage  or  surplus,  but  the 
drought  in  July  and  August  created  a  record-breaking  shortage,  to  be 
followed  by  a  comfortable  ratio  between  supply  and  demand  during 
the  winter  of  1910-11,  which  was  a  fairly  prosperous  one  for  the 
producers,  one  authority  calling  it  "the  most  profitable  period  in 
local  history." 

During  the  fall  of  1910  the  increased  use  of  condensed  milk  in 
other  places  proved  a  benefit  to  the  producers  for  the  local  market  by 
creating  a  greater  demand  for  their  product,  which  made  considerable 
inroads  on  the  market  milk  supply  and  restricted  the  surplus. 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO. 


11 


TRANSPORTATION   AND    FREIGHT. 

In  spite  of  the  aversion  of  the  railroads  to  stating  the  amount  of 
their  milk  shipments,  the  report  of  the  Chicago  health  department 
for  1907-1910,  page  317,  publishes  the  following: 

Number  of  8-gallon  cans  of  milk  delivered  in  Chicago  by  various  railroads,  1898-1910. 


Railroads. 

1898 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

Chicago  &  North  Western          

5,400 
2,600 
1,500 
1,600 
800 
800 
550 
450 
450 
400 
350 
300 
200 
150 
200 
250 
100 

5,400 
2,6dO 
1,550 
1,600 
800 
800 
550 
450 
450 
400 
3,50 
350 
200 
150 
200 
250 
100 

6,000 
3,500 
1,500 
1,200 
700 
700 
500 
400 
500 
300 
300 
400 

6,500 
4,000 
1,900 
1,550 
1,000 
900 
600 
500 
700 
400 
420 
550 

8,500 
5,500 
2,300 
1,700 
1,000 
950 
650 
500 
600 
450 
400 
300 
300 
250 
300 
300 
300 

9,000 
5,500 
2,300 
1,700 
1,000 
1,000 
600 
500 
500 
500 
400 
300 
300 
300 
300 
300 
300 

10.000 
6,500 
2,500 
1,800 
1,000 
1,000 
600 
500 
500 
500 
400 
300 
300 
300 
300 
300 
200 
200 

Chicago  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  

Illinois  Central           

Wisconsin  Central  

Chicago  Burlington  &  Quincy  

Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  

Orand  Trunk  

Rock  Island  

Erie                         

Wabash     

Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  
Monon                 

200 
200 
200 
200 

200 
250 
300 
250 

Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois         

Chicago  &  Alton         

Aurora  Elgin  &  Chicago  Electric  

Bottled  milk      

1,300 

3,325 

4,130 

Total              

16,  100 

17,560 

20,125 

21,150 

24,300 

24,800 

27,200 

Railroads. 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

Chicago  &  North  Western  

10,000 
6,600 
2,600 
1,800 
1,600 
3,100 
600 
550 
500 
500 
400 
400 
400 
400 
350 
300 
300 
350 

11,000 
6,500 
2,600 
1,700 
1,800 
1,000 
600 
500 
500 
500 
400 
550 
400 
400 
400 
300 
300 
400 

11,000 
6,500 
2,600 
1,700 
1,800 
1,000 
600 
500 
500 
500 
400 
600 
400 
500 
400 
300 
300 
300 

11,000 
7,500 
2,600 
1,700 
1,800 
1,000 
600 
500 
500 
500 
400 
600 
400 
500 
400 
300 
300 
300 

12,000 
8,000 
1,865 
1,175 
940 
815 
500 
520 
580 
550 
200 
475 
200 
200 
60 
4£5 
315 
600 
500 
230 
105 

12,200 
8,600 
1,775 
1,400 
800 
800 
300 
500 
600 
620 
300 
500 

Chicago  Milwaukee  &  St  Paul 

Illinois  Central 

Chicago  Great  Western    

Wisconsin  Central  

Chicago  Burlington  &  Quincy 

Atchison  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe 

Orand  Trunk        

Rock  Island       

Erie           

Wabash  

Pennsylvania  

Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  
Monon  

300 
25 
480 
200 
600 
700 
400 
145 

Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois 

Baltimore  &  Ohio 

Chicago  &  Alton              

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Electric  

Cows  inside  city  limits  

Hauled  by  wagon  

Miscellaneous 

Total  

28,650 

1 

29,850 

30,  000 

30,000 

30.  260 

31,  245 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  milk  supply  of  the  city  comes  in 
on  about  18  different  railroads,  but  nearly  two-thirds  of  it  comes  over 
two  lines  entering  from  the  northwestern  territory  previously  noted. 
The  relative  amount  of  shipments  over  the  different  leading  lines  is 
as  follows: 

Per  cent. 

Chicago  &  Northwestern 39 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 26 

Illinois  Central 5 

Chicago  Great  Western 4 

Wisconsin  Central 2 

Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 2 

Others 22 

<•  100 


12  MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 

The  milk  supply  has  steadily  increased  from  year  to  year  with  the 
growth  of  the  city,  and  there  has  been  a  corresponding  increase  of 
milk  shipments  by  the  leading  roads  without  much  change  in  their 
relative  standing.  The  roads  doing  the  largest  business  have  not 
increased  their  milk  mileage  with  the  larger  shipments.  The  chief 
change  has  been  in  a  reduction  of  the  number  of  individual  shippers 
and  an  increase  of  business  from  the  bottling  plants. 

The  large  dealers  who  ship  bottled  milk  by  the  carload  ice  it  in 
the  summer,  but  the  supply  of  can  milk  comes  in  ordinary  baggage 
cars,  largely  on  passenger  trains.  It  is  in  transit  such  a  short  time 
that  no  efforts  at  refrigeration  are  made.  A  single  car  of  milk  in  cans 
may  contain  supplies  for  50  or  more  dealers.  A  city  ordinance 
requires  this  milk  to  come  into  the  city  in  sealed  cans. 

FREIGHT   RATES. 

There  is  no  uniformity  in  the  system  of  freight  rates  for  milk  on 
the  different  railroads  and  no  regular  zone  system  of  charges  as  in 
New  York  and  Boston.1  The  rates  of  each  road  are  independent  of 
all  others.  Most  of  the  roads  issue  a  sheet  giving  a  rate  for  each  of 
the  different  shipping  stations  on  their  lines.  When  this  is  worked 
out  on  the  basis  of  the  distance  of  those  stations  from  the  city  we 
get  the  following  results  on  three  of  the  roads,  the  price  referring  to  a 
can  of  32  quarts: 

(1)  Less  than  25  miles,  12  cents;  25  to  50  miles,  15  cents;  50  to  75 
miles,  20  cents. 

(2)  Less  than  36  miles,  15  cents;  36  to  42  miles  on  mam  line  and 
to  49  miles  on  branches,  16  cents;  42  to  46  miles  on  main  line,  17  cents; 
52  to  59  miles,  18  cents;  62  to  66  miles,  19  cents;  68  to  83  miles, 
20  cents. 

(3)  Less  than  10  miles,  14£  cents;  10  to  21  miles,  15  cents;  21  to 
30  miles,  15^  cents;  32  to  55  miles,  16  cents;  55  to  62  miles,  17^  cents. 

Stated  in  a  general  way,  the  matter  resolves  itself  practically  into 
three  zones,  in  which  the  freight  rate  is  15,  16,  and  16^  cents  a  can 
for  much  of  the  milk  shipped.  Sixteen  cents  a  can  is  half  a  cent  a 
quart,  and  each  extra  cent  per  can  for  additional  distances  adds  three 
one-hundredths  of  a  cent  per  quart. 

As  regards  bottled  milk  in  carload  lots  there  is  no  official  carload, 
but  the  rate  is  based  on  at  least  300  crates  to  the  car  at  10  to  14£  cents 
a  crate,  or  a  minimum  of  $20  per  day  per  car.  The  dealers  estimate 
the  freight  to  cost  them  on  an  average  three-fourths  of  a  cent  per 
quart.  The  rates  are  the  same  for  milk  and  cream.  Much  milk  is 
on  the  road  only  two  or  three  hours. 

1  Bulletin  81,  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  pp.  11, 42. 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF  CHICAGO.  13 

METHODS  OF  HANDLING  THE  MILK. 

Comparatively  little  milk  is  distributed  in  Chicago  by  the  produc- 
ers. Almost  the  entire  product  passes  through  the  hands  of  middle- 
men. Of  these  there  are  two  distinct  types,  employing  distinct 
methods,  and  it  happens  that  as  a  rule  the  larger  dealers  do  business 
in  one  way  and  the  smaller  dealers  in  another.  Hence,  the  line 
between  the  large  and  small  dealers  is  more  sharply  drawn  in  Chicago 
than  in  most  other  cities,  being  a  matter  both  of  relative  magnitude 
of  business  done  and  of  methods  employed. 

METHODS  OF  THE  LARGE  DEALERS "  COUNTRY  BOTTLING." 

Some  eight  to  twelve  of  the  larger  milk  dealers  in  Chicago  do  about 
one-half  the  business  of  the  city,  and  of  these  two  concerns  stand  out 
preeminent,  having  about  two-thirds  of  the  business  that  is  done  by 
the  larger  dealers.  This  estimate  would  give  one- third  of  the  city's 
milk  business  to  these  two  dealers.  The  large  city  dealers  receive 
their  supplies  from  the  producers  at  country  stations  which  the 
dealers  own  and  operate.  On  account  of  the  fact  that  the  milk  from 
these  places  is  sold  in  bottles,  filled  at  the  stations,  local  usage  has 
given  the  name  of  " bottling  plants"  to  the  milk-receiving  depots, 
rather  than  "shipping  stations"  or  "creameries,"  names  used  in  other 
States  for  places  having  a  similar  use.  These  stations  are  located 
near  a  railroad  and  connected  with  it  by  a  spur  track.  In  the  morning 
the  farmers  deliver  at  the  station  the  milk  of  that  morning  and  the 
previous  evening.  It  is  as  a  rule  cooled  by  the  farmers  to  60°  F.  or 
below,  in  tanks  of  ice  or  well  water,  mostly  the  latter.  It  is  usually 
delivered  in  32-quart  cans  owned  by  the  farmers.  Every  morning 
one  will  see  near  these  milk  stations  long  lines  of  farmers'  wagons 
on  the  road  leading  to  the  receiving  platform  of  the  station,  waiting 
to  unload.  Ordinary  farm  spring  wagons  are  used,  and  the  cans  are 
covered  with  canvas. 

When  a  farmer's  cans  have  been  emptied  into  the  weight  vat  in 
the  receiving  room  the  cans  are  passed  to  an  adjoining  room  where 
they  are  washed  and  steamed  while  the  farmer  waits.  In  a  few  min- 
utes after  delivering  his  load  he  is  on  his  way  home  with  clean  and 
steamed  cans.  He  has  also  received  credit  in  the  weigh  room  for 
the  amount  of  his  delivery.  Milk  handled  at  these  stations  is 
bought  by  the  hundredweight.  No  milk  is  bought  on  the  basis  of 
fat  percentage,  though  there  is  a  minimum  requirement.  Usually 
each  farmer  delivers  his  own  product  at  the  station,  but  occasionally 
the  producers  cooperate  in  the  hauling;  in  such  cases  it  is  customary 
for  each  one  of  a  small  group  to  take  turns  in  hauling  his  milk  and 
that  of  his  neighbors  to  the  station.  Most  of  the  producers  live 


14  MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 

within  4  miles  of  their  stations,  though  in  extreme  cases  one  is  found 
5  to  5^  miles  distant. 

As  soon  as  the  milk  is  weighed  it  goes  to  the  milk  rooms,  where  it 
is  mixed,  cooled,  and  bottled.  Some  of  these  "bottling  plants" 
filter,  clarify,  and  pasteurize  the  milk  as  well.  When  bottled  it  is 
crated  and  the  crates  are  iced  for  transportation.  Some  plants  have 
a  condensing  outfit  and  do  a  large  condensed  milk  business  in  addi- 
tion to  their  ordinary  market  milk  trade.  Many  plants  have  sepa- 
rators for  obtaining  cream  for  the  cream  trade,  and  most  of  them  are 
equipped  for  manufacturing  butter  in  case  of  a  surplus  of  milk  and 
also  for  making  buttermilk.  Some  have  a  refrigerating  outfit.  Gener- 
ally all  have  an  abundance  of  steam  for  cleansing  and  sterilizing  as 
well  as  for  power. 

Although  these  milk  stations  vary  much  in  size  and  architecture, 
their  external  appearance  has  many  common  characteristics.  Plate  I 
shows  one  of  the  larger  plants.  On  the  left  of  the  picture  is  shown 
the  inclined  roadway  leading  to  the  doors  for  receiving  the  milk  and 
delivering  the  clean  empty  cans.  The  farmers'  milk  wagons  reach 
these  doors  by  the  incline  in  order  that  the  milk  may  be  received  at 
such  an  elevation  that  it  can  flow  by  gravity  to  the  workrooms 
where  it  is  handled.  These  plants  are  owned  by  large  corporations 
with  ample  resources  and  represent  a  considerable  investment.  The 
owners  have  much  capital  and  reputation  at  stake  as  an  incentive 
to  handling  milk  in  a  proper  way.  The  plants  are  generally  con- 
structed and  operated  in  a  sanitary  manner.  They  have  thorough 
construction,  with  cement  floors,  tiled  walls,  enameled  ceilings,  and 
excellent  plumbing,  and  are  equipped  with  modern  machinery. 
Plate  II  shows  interior  views  of  one  of  these  plants.  In  one  there 
is  seen  the  process  of  bottling  the  milk  and  capping  the  bottles;  in 
the  other,  the  washing  of  the  bottles. 

One  to  four  carloads  of  milk,  cream,  and  buttermilk  daily  leave 
each  of  these  bottling  stations.  They  are  owned  by  six  concerns, 
and  handle  by  estimation  the  product  of  from  4,000  to  4, 500  produc- 
ers. The  number  of  towns  from  which  milk  is  shipped  in  this  way 
is  approximately  50,  located  as  shown  in  figure  2.  McHenry  County 
has  about  20  plants.  The  two  largest  dealers  have  23  establishments. 
Much  of  this  milk  is  pasteurized  in  the  country. 

The  milk  cars  containing  this  bottled  milk  are  iced  when  necessary. 
They  reach  the  city  about  midnight  with  the  milk  of  that  morning 
and  the  previous  evening.  They  are  switched  at  once  to  sidetracks 
controlled  by  the  dealers  and  unloaded  directly  onto  their  platforms 
and  transferred  to  the  waiting  wagons  for  the  morning  delivery. 
The  two  largest  dealers  have  from  900  to  1,000  wagons  each  and 
each  concern  has  8  to  10  branches  or  divisions  from  which  milk 
is  distributed.  The  city  "plants"  of  these  dealers  have  almost  no 


But.  138,  BUREAU  OF  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY,  U.  S.  DEPT.  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


PLATE  I. 


O 


o 


BUL.  138,  BUREAU  OF  AMMAL  INDUSTRY,  U.  S.  DEPT.  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


PLATE 


Fio.  1.— BOTTLING  AND  CAPPING  MACHINES,  AND  TRACK  ON  WHICH  BOTTLES  TRAVEL  IN 
THE  CRATES.    BOTTLE  STERILIZER. 


FIG.  2.— METHOD  OF  WASHING  BOTTLES. 
INTERIOR    VIEWS    OF    PLANT    SHOWN     IN     PLATE    I. 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF  CHICAGO. 


15 


facilities  for  handling  milk,  and  consist  chiefly  of  a  business  office, 
stable,  and  laboratory.  The  large  dealers  order  from  day  to  day, 
by  wire,  from  their  country  plants  just  what  milk  will  be  needed,  as 


J  EPPERSON-  WAUKESHA 


/  RATINE 

JIBBETS 

RTH 


LJ     \POnARGftOV£\  M  ^ 

-r     R  rti  n  N  F  I     wot 


N  R/Y  i        z/fexffi 

(V    /  LAKEFOfil 


i/wccu  •    /  fMATTNe^^  \          \ 

-Wry  c  o  dU 

^//SW^f/rof^^ VX 


FIG.  2.— Map  showing  location  of  country  milk-bottling  plants  supplying  Chicago. 

near  as  they  can  estimate.  Hence,  they  never  have  more  than  a 
small,  nominal  surplus  in  the  city,  and  need  comparatively  small 
city  storage  facilities. 


16  MILK  SUPPLY  OF  CHICAGO  AND  WASHINGTON. 

"Milk  bottled  in  the  country"  has  become  locally  a  prominent 
watchword  for  advertising  purposes.  The  expression  is  used  freely 
on  wagons,  in  booklets,  and  in  the  newspapers,  with  an  implied 
assumption  of  superiority.  This  assumption  in  many  cases  has  a 
foundation  in  fact  if  we  compare  the  average  bottling  plant  with 
some  of  the  ordinary  city  plants  where  can-milk  is  indifferently 
handled.  It  does  not  necessarily  follow,  however,  that  milk  bottled  in 
the  country  is  always  in  all  cities  superior  to  that  bottled  in  the  city. 
The  persistence  in  pushing  milk  " bottled  in  the  country"  is  one  of 
the  local  peculiarities  of  the  Chicago  milk  business. 

METHODS    OF   THE    SMALL   DEALERS. 

The  small  dealers  receive  their  milk  supply  in  the  city  at  the  rail- 
road platforms,  of  which  there  are  from  60  to  70,  and  haul  it  to 
their  places  of  business.  These  dealers  buy  of  the  producers,  who 
deliver  the  milk  at  the  local  stations,  where  it  is  collected  by  the 
milk  trains.  This  milk  is  handled  in  8-gallon  cans. 

The  large  dealers  buy  by  the  hundredweight,  but  the  small  dealers 
by  the  can.  The  producers  for  the  small  dealers  are  called  shippers 
to  distinguish  them  from  the  producers  who  sell  in  the  country  to 
the  bottling  plants;  and  the  shippers'  product  is  frequently  spoken 
of  as  "can"  milk.  The  small  dealers  have  business  places  of  every 
grade  of  quality  and  condition  and  with  a  wide  range  of  equipment. 
At  one  extreme  is  the  very  small  dealer  with  only  a  pushcart  and  a 
pouring  can;  at  the  other  extreme  is  the  thoroughly  up-to-date 
establishment,  with  separator,  churn,  and  pasteurizer,  and  other 
modern  machinery.  Though  these  small  plants  include  a  wide  range 
of  conditions  there  is  a  tendency  toward  general  improvement.  One 
of  the  leading  men  among  the  small  shippers,  stating  the  case  from 
his  viewpoint,  said  to  the  writer:  "Some  conditions  are  good  and 
some  are  bad,  but  the  average  is  constantly  improving  with  the  gen- 
eral progress  being  made  and  the  steady  weeding  out  of  the  worst 
places  by  the  city  health  department." 

Plate  III  shows  one  of  the  worst  places  ( the  exterior)  and  also  one 
of  the  worst  interiors.  Plate  IV  represents  interior  and  exterior 
views  of  one  of  the  better  plants. 

Most  of  the  milk  handled  by  the  small  dealers  is  retailed  in  bottles ; 
a  50-can  dealer  is  considered  one  doing  a  relatively  large  business. 
The  milk  cans  are  transported  on  milk  cars  attached  to  passenger 
trains.  These  cars  are  usually  common  baggage  cars,  with  steel 
floors  and  movable  shelves  which  can  be  lowered  to  receive  more 
cans  than  will  stand  on  the  floor.  Sometimes  on  nearing  the  city  the 
milk  cars  are  dropped  from  the  passenger  trains  and  made  up  into 
special  milk  trains.  The  freight  is  paid  by  the  shipper  on  the  ticket 
system. 


BUL.  138,  BUREAU  OF  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY,  U.  S.  DEPT.  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


PLATE 


FIG.  1.— A  REAR  BASEMENT  ESTABLISHMENT.    DARK  AND  POORLY  VENTILATED. 


FIQ.  2.— SMALL  MILK  PLANT  IN   FRONT  BASEMENT  ROOM.    BOTTLING  MACHINE   NEAR 
END  OF  SHELVES.    PITCHER  FOR  RETAILING  MILK  is  BESIDE  WRAPPING-PAPER  ROLL 


UNDESIRABLE    CHICAGO     MILK    PLANTS. 


But.  138,  BUREAU  OF  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY,  U.  S.  DEPT.  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


PLATE  IV. 


FIG.  1.— INTERIOR  ARRANGEMENT,  SHOWING  PASTEURIZER,  BOTTLER,  AND  CAPPER. 


FIG.  2.— VIEW  OF  EXTERIOR. 
CHICAGO    CITY    MILK    PLANTS    OF    THE    BETTER    CLASS. 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF  CHICAGO.  17 

The  number  of  the  small  dealers  can  not  be  determined  from  the 
city  reports,  which  give  only  the  number  of  licenses  issued.  This 
does  not  correspond  with  the  number  of  dealers,  for  the  health 
department  issues  licenses,  or  permits,  to  wagons  rather  than  to 
individuals;  consequently  a  single  person  may  have  a  large  number 
of  licenses.  Besides  this,  the  number  of  dealers  is  constantly  shift- 
ing, some  dropping  out  and  others  coming  in,  so  that  the  figures  for 
one  month  would  be  inaccurate  for  another.  However,  by  compar- 
ing various  estimates  and  sources  of  information,  the  number  of  the 
smaller  dealers  is  found  to  be  approximately  from  1,200  to  1,500, 
receiving  the  milk  of  from  5,OOQ  to  5,500  producers. 

The  milk  cars  leave  the  country  depots  from  6  to  8  o'clock  a.  m. 
and  arrive  at  9  to  11  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  at  platforms  owned  by 
the  railroad  company,  some  of  which  are  covered  and  some  are  uncov- 
ered. The  cars  usually  bring  in  the  milk  of  that  morning  and  the 
previous  night.  It  is  customary  for  the  farmers  to  cool  the  milk 
somewhat  at  the  farm,  especially  the  night's  milk,  but  nothing  is 
done  .toward  refrigeration  in  transit;  therefore,  as  soon  as  the  milk 
is  received  by  the  dealer,  he  at  once  thoroughly  cools  it.  He  then 
bottles  it  (usually  in  the  afternoon)  and  stores  it  in  ice  water  until 
time  for  the  morning  delivery.  Farmers'  shipments  will  range  from 
one  to  a  dozen  cans  each.  Each  shipper  sends  milk  previously  con- 
tracted for  by  some  dealer,  each  can  being  tagged  to  the  dealer — one 
tag  stating  the  amount  of  the  shipment.  In  this  way  the  dealer 
readily  gets  at  the  platform  the  milk  intended  for  him  and  can  keep 
his  accounts  accurately  with  the  producer. 

There  is  a  constant  tendency  among  the  small  dealers  to  go  out  of 
business,  saying,  "There  is  nothing  in  it."  This  tends  to  concen- 
tration in  the  hands  of  the  larger  dealers. 

HANDLING    OF   MILK    IN    STORES. 

The  experience  of  health  officers  in  many  cities  has  shown  that 
grocery  and  provision  stores  and  bakeries  which  sell  milk  are  a  men- 
ace. In  the  first  place  the  proprietors  of  these  stores  frequently  cut 
prices,  sometimes  selling  milk  at  even  less  than  the  wholesale  cost. 
These  dealers  use  the  low  price  of  milk  as  an  advertisement  of  their 
business,  hoping  to  increase  their  sales  of  other  articles  by  offering 
milk  below  cost;  but  such  a  course  is  demoralizing  from  the  commer- 
cial side.  In  the  second  place,  this  store  milk  is  often  adulterated  and 
is  frequently  handled  in  an  extremely  insanitary  way — cans  being 
uncovered  in  dirty  places,  dippers  and  measures  extremely  filthy, 
ice  lacking,  etc. 

92431°— Bull.  138—11 3 


18  MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 

Boston  has  a  bacteriological  limit  of  500,000  per  cubic  centimeter, 
and  the  relative  percentages  of  the  samples  of  milk  that  exceeded 
this  number  were  found  upon  investigation  by  the  local  board  of 
health  to  originate  as  follows: 

Per  cent. 

Place  of  production 1.  5 

Cars  on  arrival  at  city 12.  4 

Peddlers'  wagons 45.  6 

Stores 71.5 

Similar  conditions  existed  in  Chicago  until  recently.  It  was  also 
ascertained  that,  as  a  rule,  these  stores  were  located  in  those  dis- 
tricts of  the  city  which  had  the  highest  infant  mortality.  Hence  the 
common  practice  of  dipping  milk  from  the  can  in  serving  customers 
has  been  prohibited,  and  nothing  but  bottled  milk  is  now  allowed  to 
be  sold  from  stores.  This  regulation  has  been  very  beneficial  in 
reducing  the  number  of  samples  below  grade  in  regard  to  the  milk 
solids  or  food  material.1 

The  number  of  stores  in  Chicago  licensed  to  sell  milk  was  2,009  in 
1908  as  against  2,492  in  1907.  In  1908,  6,732  store  inspections  were 
made  and  810  stores  were  found  insanitary;  784  of  these  were  still 
bad  on  reinspection,  and  their  licenses  were  revoked.  This  explains 
the  falling  off  of  about  500  in  the  number  of  stores  selling  milk  in 
1908.  The  number  then  increased  under  better  conditions  until  it 
was  2,470  in  1909. 

The  ordinance  requiring  that  all  milk  sold  in  stores  should  be 
bottled  has  resulted  in  great  improvement  in  the  purity  of  the  article. 

BROKERAGE. 

A  peculiarity  of  the  Chicago  milk  business  is  the  existence  of  a 
firm  of  milk  brokers.  This  concern  will  undertake  to  find  a  customer 
for  a  producer  who  wishes  to  begin  selling  milk  and  will  find  a  pro- 
ducer-seller for  any  middleman  who  wants  to  go  into  the  business. 
In  addition  to  acting  in  this  way  as  a  go-between  for  producer  and 
dealer  the  brokers  investigate  credits  and  guarantee  to  shippers  pay- 
ment for  their  milk  for  a  commission  of  2  cents  a  can.  This  is  at 
times  important,  for  out  of  such  a  large  number  of  dealers  some  will 
be  dishonest  and  some  though  honest  will  be  weak  financially;  hence 
there  is  an  advantage  in  having  some  one  to  investigate  the  financial 
standing  of  dealers  and  guarantee  accounts.  Years  ago  the  pro- 
ducers suffered  heavy  losses  through  the  constant  stream  of  dealers 
who  failed  to  pay  their  bills.  It  is  stated  that  never  before  in  the 
history  of  the  business  has  so  little  money  been  lost  by  the  farmers 
by  reason  of  bad  credits  as  at  the  present  time. 

i  Report  of  Chicago  Health  Department,  Feb.  20, 1909,  p.  18. 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF  CHICAGO.  19 

ORGANIZATIONS. 

PRODUCERS'  ORGANIZATIONS. 

The  Milk  Shippers'  Union  is  an  organization  of  the  producers  who 
ship  milk  in  car  lots  to  small  dealers.  Different  localities  have  local 
unions  \vlio  elect  delegates  to  a  central  union.  The  union  elects  a 
board  of  directors,  one  from  each  line  of  railroad  represented.  The 
Milk  Shippers'  Union  was  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  Illinois, 
November  13,  1897.  Its  objects  are  to  improve  the  quality  of  milk; 
to  prevent  the  loss  and  destruction  of  cans ;  to  secure  reasonable  reg- 
ulations from  the  railroads;  to  protect  the  milk  shippers  against  dis- 
honest dealers;  to  prevent  controversies  on  price  by  having  it  under- 
stood before  the  milk  is  delivered;  to  prevent  monopoly  by  keeping 
an  open  market  for  any  individual  shipper;  to  exchange  information 
on  the  feed,  the  cattle,  and  the  care  of  milk.  Only  the  best  dairymen 
are  eligible  as  members.  The  union  requires  milk  shipped  to  be 
pure,  clean,  sanitary,  and  to  contain  3.6  per  cent  butter  fat.  It  dis- 
cusses and  estimates  the  market  value  of  such  milk,  based  on  the 
demand,  the  supply,  the  cost  of  production,  and  the  wholesale  prices 
paid  by  dealers  in  other  large  cities.  It  states  its  opinion  as  to  what 
the  price  of  milk  should  be;  but  in  order  to  avoid  any  trouble  under 
antitrust  laws  there  is  no  contract,  rule,  understanding,  or  obligation 
as  to  a  uniform  price  of  milk  among  the  members.  Every  producer 
sells  his  own  milk  at  his  own  price,  but  the  figure  named  by  the 
union  is  generalty  the  price  asked  by  its  members.  Usually  of  late 
the  price  has  been  fixed  on  such  a  conservative  basis  that  the  dealers 
have  paid  it  without  question.  The  union  has  a  membership  of 
about  600  and  has  been  productive  of  much  good,  especially  when 
its  income  is  considered.  It  has  been  run  on  from  $78  to  $200  a 
year  in  addition  to  a  small  salary  for  a  secretary.  The  officers  are: 
J.  P.  Mason,  president,  Elgin,  111.;  H.  B.  Farmer,  secretary,  54  Ran- 
dolph Street,  Chicago,  111.;  S.  B.  Woods,  treasurer,  Crown  Point,  Ind. 

The  Illinois  State  Milk  Producers'  Institute  holds  an  annual  meet- 
ing for  educational  discussion.  Prominent  speakers  are  secured  and 
interesting  and  profitable  meetings  are  held.  D.  D.  Hunt  is  presi- 
dent; J.  M.  MacVean,  Chicago,  is  secretary. 

In  January  and  February,  1909,  a  movement  was  started  to  bring 
all  the  milk  producers  into  one  large,  general  organization.  The 
organizers  hoped  that  by  uniting  the  interests  of  the  producers  who 
ship  their  milk  in  cans  with  those  of  the  producers  who  sell  to  the 
bottling  plants  much  greater  power  would  be  secured.  The  plan  was 
helped  on  by  some  who  felt  that  the  shippers'  union  had  not  been 
radical  enough,  and  by  others  who  wanted  united  effort  to  combat 


20  MILK   SUPPLY  OF   CHICAGO  AND  WASHINGTON. 

the  Chicago  health  rules.  The  plan  of  organization  provides  for  a 
board  of  directors  composed  of  one  from  each  county  having  mem- 
bers in  the  association  and  an  additional  delegate  from  each  of  the 
five  largest  milk-producing  counties.  The  directors  are  elected  by 
the  delegates  from  the  local  associations.  The  organization  is  called 
the  Milk  Producers'  Association.  The  following  are  the  officers: 
President,  E.  J.  Fellows,  St.  Charles,  111. ;  secretary,  James  P.  Grier, 
Chicago,  111.;  treasurer,  J.  F.  Martin,  Antioch,  111. 

DEALERS'  ORGANIZATIONS. 

The  10  or  12  larger  dealers  have  an  organization  called  the  Illinois 
Milk  Dealers'  Association. 

The  smaller  dealers  have  an  organization  called  the  Chicago  Milk 
Dealers'  Association.  This  is  subdivided  into  four  local  associations, 
one  in  each  of  the  four  main  geographical  sections  of  the  city.  At 
their  meetings  matters  of  mutual  interest  are  discussed.  Each  local 
association  elects  four  delegates  to  the  central  body.  The  latter  con- 
siders the  broader  questions  and  employs  an  attorney  and  a  business 
agent.  The  attorney  looks  after  the  interests  of  the  members  in 
courts,  appears  before  committees  of  the  city  government  to  state 
the  opinions  of  the  milk  trade  on  pending  legislation,  and  does  such 
other  things  as  may  be  required  from  tune  to  time.  From  one-half 
to  three-fourths  of  the  small  dealers  are  in  this  association. 

THE  MILK  DRIVERS'  UNION. 

The  drivers  of  milk  wagons  are  well  organized,  and  this  union  has 
had  much  influence  on  the  business  as  well  as  on  wages.  It  has 
regulated  the  hours  of  work,  by  which  all  milk  must  be  delivered 
before  1  o'clock  p.  m.  hi  the  summer.  In  the  winter  the  drivers  will 
not  begin  work  before  8  o'clock  a.  m.  Sunday  hours  of  delivery  are 
also  regulated.  A  team  will  deliver  from  200  to  300  quarts  a  day. 
There  are  about  1,700  members  in  the  drivers'  union. 

WHOLESALE  AND  BET  AIL  PRICES. 

The  following  tables  give  the  wholesale  prices  paid  by  the  milk 
dealers  for  a  number  of  years.  In  the  first  table  is  given  the  can 
price  as  explained  on  page  16  delivered  on  the  Chicago  platform, 
the  producer  paying  the  freight  out  of  this  figure.  The  second  table 
gives  the  price  per  100  pounds  paid  at  the  large  country  plants  by 
the  bottlers : 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO. 

Price  paid  per  8-gallon  can  for  milk  delivered -in  Chicago,  1896-1911. 


21 


Months. 

1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

January  

SO.  80 

$0.90 

$0.80 

$1.00 

$1.00 

$1.10 

$1.10 

$1.15 

February 

.80 

.90 

.75 

.80 

1.00 

1.10 

1.10 

1.15 

March  

.75 

.75 

.70 

.80 

.90 

.95 

1.00 

1.10 

April  

.70 

.70 

.70 

.80 

.90 

.90 

.95 

1.05 

Mav.. 

.60 

.65 

.65 

.65 

.75 

.75 

.75 

.80 

June  

.60 

.65 

.65 

.65 

.75 

.75 

.80 

July 

.65 

.75 

.70 

.85 

.85 

.85 

.90 

August 

.65 

.85 

.85 

.90 

.90 

1.00 

September... 

.70 

.85 

.90 

.95 

.95 

.95 

1.00 

October  *  

.70 

.80 

.85 

.90 

.95 

.95 

.95 

1.00 

November 

.85 

.85 

1.00 

1.15 

1.1.5 

1.15 

1.15 

1.15 

December  »  

.87 

.SO 

1.00 

1.10 

1.15 

1.15 

1.15 

1.15 

Months. 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 

January 

$1  15 

$1  15 

$1  10 

$1  20 

$1  45 

$1  30 

$1  40 

$1.55 

February 

1  15 

1  10 

1.  10 

1  15 

1  45 

1.30 

1.35 

1.50 

March  

1.15 

1.10 

1.05 

1.10 

1.30 

1.25 

1.30 

1.45 

April  :. 

1.05 

1.00 

1.05 

1.10 

1.25 

1.25 

1.30 

1.40 

May  

.80 

.80 

.90 

.95 

1.00 

1.00 

1.40 

June  

.75 

.80 

.80 

.85 

.90 

.90 

1.00 

.95 

July  

.85 

.85 

.90 

1.00 

1.00 

1.00 

1.10 

1.05 

August  

.85 

.85 

.90 

1.05 

1.10 

1.10 

1.15 

1.20 

September  

.95 

.95 

1  00 

1.10 

1.10 

1.15 

1.25 

1.25 

October  

.95 

.95 

1.00 

1.10 

1.15 

1.15 

1.25 

1.25 

November 

1  15 

1  15 

1  20 

1  45 

1  35 

1  45 

1  60 

December.. 

1.15 

1.15 

1.20 

1.45 

1.35 

1.45 

1.60 

Price  paid  per  100  pounds  for  milk  delivered  at  bottling  establishments  in  the  country. 


Months. 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 

January  
February  

SI.  35 
1.35 

$1.45 
1.40 

$1.45 
1.45 

$1.55 
1.50 

81.50 
1  40 

81.45 
1.  40 

$1.55 
1.45 

51.  65 
1.65 

81.  55 
1.55 

$1.75 
1.70 

?2.00 
1.90 

March  
April  
May  
June  
July  

1.30 
1.05 

.85 
.85 
80 

1.30 
1.15 
.90 
.80 
90 

1.35 
1.20 
.95 

.85 
95 

1.40 
1.20 

.90 
.80 
90 

1.30 
1.20 

.90 
.80 
90 

1.30 
1.20 
.90 

.80 
90 

1.35 
1.30 
1.00 
.90 
1  00 

1.55 
1.35 
1.05 
.95 
1  05 

1.45 
1.40 
1.10 
.95 
1  05 

1.55 
1.45 
1.20 
1.05 
1.20 

1.70 
1.30 
1.10 
1.10 
1  30 

August  

1.05 

1  05 

1.10 

1.10 

1  05 

1  10 

1  20 

1.25 

1  25 

1.30 

1  45 

September  

1.15 

1.15 

1.20 

1.20 

1.  15 

1.20 

1.30 

1.35 

1.35 

1.40 

1.45 

October  
November  
December  

1.30 
1.40 
1.45 

1.35 
1.45 
1.45 

1.35 
1.45 
1.55 

1.30 
1.40 
1.50 

1.30 
1.40 
1.45 

1.35 
1.45 
1.55 

1.55 
1.65 
1.65 

1.45 
1.55 
1.55 

1.55 
1.70 
1.75 

1.70 
1.90 
2.00 

The  bottlers  contract  for  milk  for  six-months'  periods  in  April 
and  October;  the  shippers  fix  their  prices  in  May  and  November. 

Figure  3  gives  a  graphic  view  of  the  prices  paid  beginning  with  1903 
by  the  two  systems,  reduced  to  the  quart  as  a  unit.  The  upper  line 
represents  the  shippers'  price  and  the  lower  line  the  bottling-plant 
price.  In  the  former  case  the  farmer  pays  the  freight,  which  aver- 
ages half  a  cent  a  quart  (see  p.  12).  The  dotted  line  shows  the  net 
return  to  the  farmer  who  ships  can  milk  to  Chicago.  Figure  4  shows 
the  maximum  and  minimum  prices  for  each  year  since  1896. 

The  prevailing  retail  price  in  the  autumn  of  1907  was  7  cents  a 
quart,  and  had  been  for  some  time.  An  attempt  to  raise  the  price 
to  8  cents  was  made  in  the  winter  of  1907-8.  This  was  followed  by 


22 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 


to 

3 
3 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF  CHICAGO. 


23 


cries  of  "trust"  in  some  of  the  newspapers  and  13  grand-jury  indict- 
ments.    It  was  charged — 

That  defendants  were  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  to  crush  out  competition;  that  de- 
fendants conspired  to  form  a  pool;  that  defendants  conspired  to  commit  an  illegal  act 
against  the  public  administration  of  justice;  that  the  conspiracy  was  not  only  to  con- 
trol prices  charged  to  consumers,  but  to  regulate  prices  paid  to  producers. 

The  bill  of  particulars  filed  by  the  Commonwealth  alleged — 
That  defendants  advanced  the  price  of  milk  to  consumers  1  cent  per  quart  in  the 
fall  of  1907  almost  simultaneously. 


k 

\ 


3 

jO  2 
£   2'/2 

jg* 


/'/z 


a 


a' 


\ 


s 


A 


A 


A 


6' 


\ 


FIG.  4.— Summer  and  winter  wholesale  milk  prices  at  Chicago,  a,  Price  of  can  milk  In  November  and 
December;  a',  same  less  freight;  6,  price  of  can  milk  in  May  and  June;  6',  same  less  freight;  c,  winter 
price  of  milk  at  country  bottling  plants;  d,  summer  price  at  bottling  plants. 

That  customers  received  notice  from  defendants  about  the  same  time  regarding  the 
increase  in  milk  prices. 

That  defendants  increased  the  price  given  to  farmers  in  order  to  drive  out  competi- 
tion in  the  dairy-produce  country. 

As  a  result  of  this  agitation  the  retail  price  was  dropped  to  7  cents 
and  remained  at  that  price  during  the  winter  of  1908-9.  When  the 


24  MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 

case  was  reached  on  the  court  calendar  it  was  dismissed  by  the  judge 
without  trial. 

In  the  winter  of  1909-10  an  effort  was  again  made  to  raise  the  price 
to  8  cents,  but  much  milk  was  sold  at  7  cents,  and  daily  newspaper 
agitation  finally  reduced  the  price  to  7  cents. 

THE   OFFICIAL   INSPECTION. 

Milk  inspection  in  Chicago  is  under  the  general  supervision  and 
direction  of  the  health  commissioner  and  is  directly  in  the  division 
of  food  inspection.  This  division  has  a  chief,  and  also  a  chief  of 
dairy  inspection.  Under  the  latter  there  are  at  present  10  milk 
inspectors  for  city  work  and  10  dairy  inspectors  for  country  service. 
The  salaries  of  these  21  officers  aggregate  $22,500.  The  health 
department  has  a  laboratory  with  3  bacteriologists  and  6  chemists 
for  general  work,  and  in  addition  2  officers  specially  designated  as 
milk  testers.  These  latter  are  paid  $2,400,  increasing  the  direct 
expense  for  milk  inspection  to  $24,900,  no  account  being  taken  of 
other  office  and  supervisory  expenses,  which  might  properly  be^ 
chargeable  to  milk  inspection. 

The  milk  ordinance  now  in  force  was  adopted  early  in  1908,  and 
the  score-card  system  of  inspection  was  soon  after  inaugurated. 
There  are  used  one  form  of  score  card  for  dairy  farms,  substantially 
like  that  of  the  Dairy  Division,  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  another  form  for  city  milk  depots, 
and  a  third  for  stores  selling  milk.  The  health  department  has  also 
devised  a  form  of  score  card  for  the  inspection  of  botth'ng  plants. 

In  addition  to  the  official  inspection,  the  largest  bottlers  have  regu- 
lations looking  to  clean,  pure  milk,  and  employ  their  own  inspectors 
to  see  that  these  regulations  are  complied  with. 

A  question  has  been  raised,  growing  out  of  the  increased  activity 
of  the  health  office,  as  to  the  legal  rights  of  city  inspectors  when  mak- 
ing investigations  outside  of  the  municipal  limits,  an  eminent 
authority  having  said  that  these  inspectors — 

have  no  more  authority  upon  your  frrm  or  mine  than  the  burglar  that  seeks  to  break 
into  our  house  at  night. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  ordinance  says  that — 

Milk  produced  on  larma  *  *  *  where  the  rules  of  the  department  are  violated 
shall  be  declared  unclean,  unwholesome,  and  infected.  The  sale  of  or  offering  for 
sale  of  such  milk  is  prohibited.  All  unclean,  unwholesome,  or  infected  milk  shall 
be  condemned  for  human  food. 

Such  milk  is  to  be  returned  to  the  shipper,  and  on  a  second  offense 
is  to  be  so  denatured  that  it  can  not  be  used  as  food.  Hence,  without 
raising  technical  or  academic  points,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  pro- 
ducer will  save  himself  annoyance  and  inconvenience  by  allowing  an 
inspection  of  his  premises. 


MILK  SUPPLY  OF  CHICAGO.  25 

The  milk  laws  in  effect  in  the  city  are  for  the  most  part  municipal 
ordinances.  Where  the  health  officer  or  other  interested  party 
desires  a  new  law  or  the  modification  of  an  old  one,  he  goes  to  the 
city  council  rather  than  to  the  legislature.  The  present  Chicago 
ordinances  are  very  specific  as  to  all  details  of  production  and  han- 
dling. The  sale  of  milk  over  70°  F.  or  containing  over  3,000,000  bac- 
teria per  cubic  centimeter  is  prohibited. 

In  July,  1908,  the  city  council  passed  an  ordinance  which  pro- 
vided that  all  milk  sold  in  the  city  should  be  from  cows  that  had 
satisfactorily  passed  the  tuberculin  test;  but,  realizing  the  difficulty 
of  putting  such  an  ordinance  into  immediate  effect,  the  ordinance 
allowed  pasteurization  as  an  alternative  for  five  years.  The  theory 
upon  which  the  ordinance  was  passed  was  that  five  years  would  be 
required  to  test  the  cows  and  exclude  the  tuberculous,  there  being 
about  125,000  cows  producing  milk  for  the  Chicago  market,  owned 
by  some  12,000  farmers.  When  the  ordinance  was  passed  it  was  to 
take  effect  January  1,  1909,  but  bitter  opposition  developed  and  it 
has  been  fought  with  persistency  for  several  years.  The  time  for  its 
going  into  effect  has  been  postponed  from  time  to  time,  until  finally 
it  became  effective  January  1,  1911.  After  that  date  no  license  has 
been  issued  to  any  dealer  unless  his  supply  was  properly  pasteurized 
or  obtained  from  a  dairy  the  cows  of  winch  had  been  properly  tuber- 
culin tested  within  one  year. 

Growing  out  of  this  agitation,  a  city  commission  was  appointed  to- 
investigate  conditions  and  a  State  commission  was  appointed  to 
make  an  investigation  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the  tuberculin  test. 
The  first  .commission  has  made  a  preliminary  report  critical  of  the 
city  milk  supply,  and  the  State  commission  has  reported  to  the  legis- 
lature a  recommendation  to  the  effect  that  municipalities  should  not 
have  the  right  to  enact  tuberculin  testing  ordinances. 

Meanwhile  the  work  of  testing  cows  progressed.  Animals  were 
tested  with  tuberculin  as  follows:  In  1908,  10,860;  1909,  29,499; 
1910,  6,302.  But  the  recent  session  of  the  legislature  enacted  the 
following:  "It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  city,  village,  incorporated 
town,  county,  or  other  corporate  authority  in  the  State  of  Illinois 
by  ordinance,  rule,  or  regulation  other  than  may  be  established 
by  the  law  of  this  State  to  demand,  fix,  establish,  or  require 
the  tuberculin  test  to  be  applied  to  dairy  animals  as  a  means  or 
measure  of  regulating  and  purifying  milk,  slammed  milk,  cream, 
and  dairy  products  of  said  animals  in  any  manner  whatever,  and 
every  such  ordinance,  rule,  by-law,  or  regulation  heretofore  or 
hereafter  passed,  demanded,  fixed,  established,  or  required  by  any 
such  city,  village,  incorporated  town,  county,  or  other  corporate 
authority  other  than  the  State  of  Illinois  is  hereby  declared  to  be 
void  and  of  no  effect." 


26 


MILK  SUPPLY  OP  CHICAGO  AND  WASHINGTON. 


The  number  of  pasteurizers  installed  in  the  city  is  210  and  in  the 
country  100 — 310  in  all.  Most  of  these  have  been  put  in  during  the 
past  two  years. 

The  inspection  of  the  work  of  pasteurization  devolves  upon  the 
health  department.  The  number  of  tests  made  in  1909  was  3,914; 
in  1910,  5,203.  The  tests  show  good  results  from  the  standpoint  of 
reduction  of  the  bacteria,  but  are  nevertheless  unsatisfactory  and 
show  much  poor  work  done  by  the  pasteurizers,  which  the  depart- 
ment is  laboring  to  overcome.  The  average  bacteria  count  from 
August  1  to  December  31,  1909,  was  944,000  per  cubic  centimeter, 
and  2,219  of  the  1910  samples  averaged  1,702,000.  The  average  of 
the  city's  raw  milk  for  1910  was  11,574,000  and  during  the  summer 
months  it  was  13,932,000. 

During  the  seven  weeks  ending  the  middle  of  September,  1909, 
the  inspectors  of  the  health  department  took  829  samples  of  milk 
for  bacteriological  examination,  with  the  following  results : 

Results  of  bacteriological  examination  of  829  samples  of  milk  in  Chicago. 


Bacteria  per  cubic  centimeter. 

Pasteurized. 

Raw. 

Number. 

Per  cent. 

Number. 

Per  cent. 

Less  than  1,000  

2 
8 
94 
80 
31 
34 
5 
7 
1 

0.76 
3.04 
35.90 
30.52 
11.80 
13.00 
2.00 
2.  CO 
.38 

1  000  to  10  000                                                           

10,000  to  100,000  .        .                                    

14 
57 
45 
227 
106 
81 
37 

2.47 
10.04 
7.93 
40.03 
18.70 
14.30 
6.53 

100,000  to  500,000   

600,000  to  1,000,000  

1,000  000  to  5  000  000              .    .                                

5,000  000  to  10,000,000                                            

10,000,000  to  20,000,000              

Over  20,000,000.  ..                  

Total                                                      

262 

100.00 

567 

100.00 

All  of  the  samples  of  unpasteurized  milk  averaged  5,547,502  bacteria 
per  cubic  centimeter;  the  pasteurized  milk  averaged  944,465. 

One  section  of  the  ordinance  requires  that  drivers'  seats  on  milk 
wagons  shall  be  divided  from  the  compartment  where  the  milk  and 
cream  are  kept.  Milk  for  delivery  in  bulk  must  be  carried  in  cov- 
ered pouring  cans  provided  with  a  spout  or  faucet.  It  must  not 
be  dipped  from  carrier  cans  for  delivery  to  consumers.  All  milk 
shipped  into  Chicago  must  be  sealed.  The  last  rule,  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  health  officer,  has  almost  entirely  stopped  the  watering 
of  milk.  Sealing  the  cans  has  a  tendency  to  fix  the  responsibility 
for  adulteration,  and  therefore  makes  conviction  and  punishment 
more  certain,  which  has  had  a  decidedly  deterrent  influence. 

An  average  of  1,230  samples  are  taken  each  week.  It  is  expected 
that,  as  a  rule,  a  dairy-farm  inspector  will  make  40  inspections  per 
week,  and  that  the  city  inspector  will  make  30  inspections  with  the 
necessary  reinspections  and  take  100  samples.  The  following  shows 
in  detail  the  work  of  inspection: 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF  CHICAGO. 


27 


1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

60,688 

63,  984 

41,853 

34,  739 

7.4 

4.8 

4.2 

3.5 

1,473 

2,689 

1,312 

1,201 

$667 

$7,880 

$1,305 

$920 

6,638 

16,855 

16,566 

15,808 

47 

352 

1,442 

925 

$282 

$2,112 

$5,  846 

$4,756 

7,374 

9,865 

10,211 

5,221 

468 

350 

262 

The  falling  off  in  samples  taken  for  chemical  analysis  is  due  to  the 
increasing  attention  given  to  bacteriological  tests  and  is  offset  by  the 
increased  number  of  such  examinations.  Increasing  attention  has 
been  given  during  the  past  few  months  to  filtering  samples  of  a  pint 
each  through  a  small  disk  of  cotton.  These  are  preserved  with  the 
name  of  the  dairy  from  which  they  were  obtained  and,  if  bad,  used  as 
a  lever  to  secure  better  conditions. 

EXISTING    CONDITIONS. 

In  discussing  the  quality  of  an  inspection  system  which  has  to 
oversee  12,000  milk  producers  and  1,500  city  milk  dealers  with 
2,600  wagons  and  2,400  stores,  with  only  20  inspectors,  much  will 
depend  on  the  viewpoint  and  temperament  of  the  critic.  He  will 
find  much  to  commend  and  much  to  criticize,  and  criticism  of  con- 
ditions may  not  imply  criticism  of  the  inspection  service  or  the 
faithfulness  and  efficiency  of  its  work.  Such  a  tremendous  job 
can  not  be  perfect  in  results,  and  there  will  necessarily  be  various 
grades  of  efficiency  where  many  inspectors  are  employed. 

As  a  result  of  some  investigations  made  in  1905-6  by  Prof.  J.  M. 
Trueman,  of  the  Illinois  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,1  he  reported 
that — 

The  absence  of  preservatives  was  plainly  noticeable  in  Chicago  milk;  that  of  413 
samples  of  milk  taken  in  the  summer  of  1906,  134,  or  32  per  cent,  were  below  the 
standard  (3  per  cent  of  fat);  21  of  these,  however,  had  2.8  and  2.9  per  cent  of  fat, 
and  were  so  near  the  line  as  not  to  be  cases  for  prosecution.  It  was  an  exception  to 
find  a  milk  depot  that  was  clean  and  sanitary.  A  great  many  of  the  markets  are 
located  in  dark,  dirty,  and  ill-ventilated  basements  where  the  sunlight  never  enters. 
They  are  never  scrubbed,  and  many  of  them  could  not  be  because  the  floors  are  rotten 
wood  or  only  of  earth.  Occasionally  one  of  these  small  depots  is  found  scrupulously 
clean. 

Conditions  have  improved  since  that  time,  as  has  been  shown  on 
previous  pages,  with  a  new  law,  new  energy,  and  more  inspectors; 
and  evidence  is  abundant  that  steady  progress  is  being  made,  though 
much  remains  to  be  done,  and  Dr.  W.  A.  Evans,  health  commis- 
sioner, himself  said,  in  March,  1910:  "Chicago's  milk  supply  is  one  of 
the  dirtiest  in  the  world." 


'  Bulletin  120,  Illinois  Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 


28  MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 

The  writer  of  this  bulletin  spent  a  part  of  November  and  December, 
1909,  in  some  investigations,  working  a  few  days  with  each  of  the 
inspectors  and  seeing  a  little  of  each  milk-producing  section.  In 
every  place  visited  the  Chicago  inspector  and  the  writer  visited  every 
dairy  they  came  to  so  far  as  the  time  would  allow,  so  that  there  was  no 
selecting  of  dairies,  and  each  inspector  asserted  that  a  fair  average 
of  the  conditions  was  seen.  Speaking  in  a  general  way,  conditions 
were  bad,  but  everywhere  there  were  evidences  of  improvement. 
Stating  the  results  of  the  investigations  in  mathematical  terms, 
resulting  from  the  rating  given  on  the  score  cards,  100  being  perfect, 
there  were  found : 

In  the  twenties,  11.7  per  cent  of  the  places  visited. 
In  the  thirties,  35  per  cent  of  the  places  visited. 
In  the  forties,  43  per  cent  of  the  places  visited. 
In  the  fifties,  9  per  cent  of  the  places  visited. 
In  the  sixties,  1.3  per  cent  of  the  places  visited. 

The  average  was  40.06. 

Seventy-three  per  cent  were  rated  nothing  for  cleanliness  of  the 
stable  yard ;  59  per  cent  were  given  a  score  of  nothing  for  light ;  and  a 
score  of  nothing  for  ventilation  was  given  to  42  per  cent. 

In  the  majority  of  cases  cows  were  allowed  to  calve  in  the  stanchions. 
The  milk  room  in  most  of  the  dairies  was  simply  a  tank  room  where 
the  milk  is  cooled.  In  many  cases  this  was  badly  located,  being  at  the 
corner  of  the  barnyard  or  a  hog  yard  or  both.  In  practically  every 
case  the  milk  utensils  were  washed  in  the  kitchen  of  the  house.  No 
cooler  was  found  in  any  instance,  milk  being  cooled  by  being  set  in  a 
tank  of  well  water.  Not  a  single  narrow-top  milk  pail  was  found  in 
use,  or  a  single  instance  where  milking  suits  were  used.  Eighteen  per 
cent  of  the  cows  were  given  a  score  of  nothing  for  cleanliness.  Forty- 
six  per  cent  of  the  dairies  inspected  were  scored  nothing  for  cleanliness 
of  the  stable  air  at  the  time  of  milking.  A  score  of  nothing  for  clean- 
liness of  milk  house  was  given  in  41  per  cent  of  the  places  visited. 
Eleven  per  cent  of  the  dairies  received  a  score  of  nothing  for  care  and 
cleanliness  of  utensils. 

The  external  appearance  of  the  barns  in  the  milk-producing  terri- 
tory is  much  better  than  in  some  other  sections  of  the  United  States. 
A  large  proportion  of  them  are  in  good  repair  and  well  ventilated,  but 
many  appear  to  be  deficient  in  light. 

The  department  of  health  a  few  years  ago  waged  a  vigorous  contest 
against  the  feeding  of  wet  malt  to  dairy  cows.  Powerful  interests 
attacked  this  ordinance,  but  the  appellate  court  of  Cook  County 
affirmed  the  validity  of  the  ordinance  October  8,  1906.  The  court 
said  that  power  to  enact  ordinances  for  the  preservation  of  the  public 
health  is  inherent  in  a  municipality,  and  quoted  an  opinion  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Minnesota  (66  Minn.,  166),  which  said  that — 


MILK  SUPPLY  OF   CHICAGO.  29 

Any  public  regulations  that  did  not  provide  means  for  insuring  the  wholesomeness 
of  milk  *  *  *  for  sale  and  consumption  would  furnish  very  inadequate  protection 
to  the  lives  and  health  of  its  citizens.  *  *  *  The  presumptions  of  the  law  are  in 
favor  of  the  reasonableness  of  the  ordinance.  *  *  *  It  is  therefore  incumbent  upon 
anyone  who  seeks  to  have  it  set  aside  as  unreasonable  to  point  out  or  show  affirmatively 
wherein  such  unreasonableness  consists. 

INFANT   MORTALITY. 

The  health  commissioner  reported  in  February,  1909: 

The  infant  death  rate  of  the  last  few  weeks  shows  a  material  improvement.  This 
may  be  due  to  an  improvement  in  general  sociologic  conditions.  Possibly  life  is  not 
quite  so  hard  as  it  was  a  year  ago.  Nothing  responds  so  accurately  to  the  financial 
conditions  of  the  poorer  people  as  does  infant  mortality.  And  possibly  also  all  of  this 
agitation  for  a  better  milk  supply  is  showing  in  an  improved  baby  death  rate,  as  it  has 
been  shown  in  the  statistics  of  chemical  and  bacteriological  examinations  of  the  milk 
division. 

In  his  annual  report  for  1909,  published  in  January,  1910,  Commis- 
sioner Evans  said: 

A  most  noteworthy  development  of  the  year  has  been  the  pronounced  reductions  in 
deaths  among  milk-fed  babies — in  spite  of  an  unusually  hot  summer.  It  is  believed 
that  a  purer  milk  supply  has  contributed  most  in  this  reduction.  With  60  per  cent 
of  the  city's  supply  now  pasteurized,  and  with  regulations  for  the  sanitary  handling  of 
milk  more  universally  enforced  than  ever  before,  our  babies'  milk  has,  within  the 
last  year,  become  a  much  safer  and  better  article  of  food.  Under  ordinary  conditions 
it  is  a  certainty  that  greater  reductions  would  have  been  recorded.  As  it  stands  there 
were  641  fewer  baby  deaths  as  compared  with  1908,  a  reduction  that  is  not  only  grati- 
fying but  is  regarded  as  hopeful  for  much  better  things  in  the  future. 

The  following  table  shows  the  decrease  in  infant  mortality  between 
the  ages  of  1  to  5  years  for  four  decades: 


Decade. 

To  1,000 
population. 

Per  cent  of 
total  mor- 
tality. 

1871-1880  

4.69 

22.84 

1881-1890  ...  .              

3.85 

18.67 

1891-1900       

2.60 

14.20 

19011910          

1.42 

9  69 

THE  PRODUCTION  OF  HIGH-GRADE  MILK. 

Milk  of  high  grade  is  produced  by  a  number  of  dairies  and  sold  at 
several  cents  a  quart  above  the  price  of  ordinary  milk.  A  few  dairies 
have  sold  for  several  years  what  they  called  certified  milk,  but  the 
term  in  its  strict  sense  has  been  a  misnomer.  The  expression  ' '  certi- 
fied milk"  is  correctly  used  only  when  the  milk  has  been  produced 
under  conditions  prescribed  by  a  committee  of  some  regular  medical 


30  MILK   SUPPLY  OF  CHICAGO  AND  WASHINGTON. 

association  and  when  this  committee  certifies  that  its  rules  or  recom- 
mendations have  been  complied  with.1 

Usage  has  given  the  name  of  "commission"  to  these  committees. 
The  earliest  commission  of  a  medical  society  in  the  field  was  the 
Essex  County  Milk  Commission  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  which  copyrighted 
the  term  "certified  milk,"  but  offered  it  for  use  by  any  medical  milk 
commission  organized  to  influence  dairy  work  for  clinical  purposes. 
The  use  of  the  word  "commission"  as  applied  to  the  milk  committee 
of  a  medical  society  is  liable  at  times  to  give  rise  to  confusion,  as  was 
the  case  in  Chicago  for  some  time.  This  city  had  no  milk  commis- 
sion, in  the  sense  mentioned  above,  until  recently,  and  hence  no  body 
which  could  certify  milk,  though  large  amounts  of  so-called  certified 
milk  were  sold.  To  increase  the  confusion,  an  organization  adopted 
the  name  of  "milk  commission,"  to  "distribute  pasteurized  and 
modified  milk  among  sick  children  of  the  poorer  parts  of  Chicago  at 
prices  far  below  cost."  This  philanthropic  body  did  not  exist  for  the 
purposes  of  certifying  to  the  satisfactory  production  of  milk,  and 
only  a  minority  of  its  officers  were  physicians.  However,  it  did  most 
excellent  work  in  its  way.  For  instance,  in  January,  1909,  it  dis- 
tributed 59,360  bottles  of  milk  from  its  own  laboratory  and  from  21 
other  stations.  This  was  an  increase  of  12,545  bottles  over  the 
amount  distributed  during  the  corresponding  month  of  the  previous 
year. 

A  regular  medical  milk  commission  for  certifying  milk  was  appointed 
by  the  Chicago  Medical  Society  early  in  1909  and  is  now  certifying  to 
the  milk  produced  by  seven  dames.  The  certified  milk  is  sold  for  the 
most  part  by  regular  dealers,  who  also  handle  the  common  market 
milk.  Dr.  J.  W.  Van  Derslice  is  president  and  Dr.  Julia  D.  Merrill  is 
secretary  of  this  commission. 

1  Certified  milk  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term  is  milk  produced  under  a  legal  contract  between  a  medical 
milk  commission  and  a  dairy  and  which  conforms  to  its  requirements. — C.  B.  Lane,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agri- 
culture, Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  Bulletin  104,  p.  9. 

"Certified  milk  "is  a  term  *  *  *  coined  by  the  writer  and  first  used  in  connection  with  a  plan  brought 
to  the  attention  of  physicians  *  *  *  in  1893.  *  *  *  It  provided  for  a  commission  of  medical  men 
who  should  by  voluntary  supervision,  paid  expert  inspection,  and  final  certification,  endeavor  to  influence 
a  supply  of  milk  produced  under  regulations  imposed  by  themselves. — Henry  L.  Coit,  M.  D.,  Kentucky 
State  Medical  Journal,  May,  1908. 

No  person  shall  sell  or  exchange  or  offer  or  expose  for  sale  or  exchange  as  and  for  certified  milk  any  milk 
which  does  not  conform  to  the  regulations  prescribed  by  and  bear  the  certification  of  a  milk  commission 
appointed  by  a  county  medical  society,  organized  under  and  chartered  by  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  and  which  has  not  been  pronounced  by  such  authority  to  be  free  from  antiseptics,  added 
preservatives,  and  pathogenic  bacteria  or  bacteria  in  excessive  numbers. — New  York  Laws,  sec.  22,  amended 
April  30,  1907. 


Part  II.— THE  MILK  SUPPLY  OF  WASHINGTON. 

AMOUNT   AND    SOURCE   OF  THE    SUPPLY. 

The  District  of  Columbia  consumes  about  76,000  quarts  (19,000 
gallons)  of  milk  a  day,  or  about  0.4  of  a  pint  per  capita.  This  is 
produced  on  1,091  dairy  farms,  from  17,688  cows.  A  few  years  ago 
when  the  number  was  16,272,  they  were  located  as  follows: 

Cows. 

District  of  Columbia  1 734 

Maryland 8, 448 

Virginia 6, 428 

Pennsylvania 137 

New  York..  525 


Total 16,  272 

The  District  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  good  farming  country, 
and  if  dairying  were  intensively  developed  the  entire  milk  supply 
could  be  easily  produced  within  wagon  haul  of  the  District.  As  it 
is,  about  one-third  is  brought  in  by  wagons  and  two-thirds  by  steam 
and  electric  railroads.  Of  the  milk  brought  into  the  District  by 
the  latter  conveyances  59  per  cent  comes  by  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
Railroad,  30  per  cent  by  the  Southern  lines,  and  11  per  cent  by 
electric  lines.  Most  of  the  supply  is  produced  within  55  miles  of 
the  city.  The  bulk  of  it  comes  from  Loudoun  and  Fairfax  Coun- 
ties, Va.,  and  Montgomery  and  Frederick  Counties,  Md.  (See 
fig.  5.) 

The  near-by  supply  of  cream  is  insufficient,  and  considerable 
quantities  are  received  regularly  from  Philadelphia  and  New  York. 
The  dealer  can,  in  an  unforeseen  emergency,  telegraph  to  some  city 
depot  or  country  creamery  at  these  places  and  receive  a  supply 
within  a  few  hours. 

TRANSPORTATION  AND  FREIGHT. 

The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  delivers  from  6,000  to  6,500  gal- 
lons daily.  It  has  about  20  milk  stations,  mostly  on  the  Metropoli- 
tan Branch,  the  most  distant  shipping  point  being  57  miles  away. 
The  largest  amounts  are  shipped  from  Germantown,  Boyds,  and 
Frederick,  all  in  Maryland. 

1  The  total  number  of  cows  in  the  District,  including  the  cows  kept  by  public  institutions  and  by  indi- 
viduals owning  only  one  cow  for  family  use,  is  1,762. 

31 


32 


MILK   SUPPLY  OF   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 


The  Southern  Railway  transports  about  3,300  gallons  daily. 
This  road  has  38  shipping  stations  on  the  main  line  and  two  branches, 
the  most  remote  point  of  taking  milk  being  92  miles  distant  from 
the  city.  The  largest  shipping  points  in  its  territory  are  Herndon 
and  Purcellville,  in  Virginia. 

The  milk  is  brought  to  the  stations  by  the  farmers  in  their  own 
cans  and  is  shipped  in  baggage  cars  attached  to  the  passenger  trains. 
Plate  V,  figure  1,  shows  a  common  morning  scene  at  one  of  these 


FIG.  5.— Map  showing  source  of  most  of  Washington's  milk  supply.    Heavy  dots  indicate  points  from 
which  milk  cars  start.    Five  largest  shipping  points  are  shown  by  dots  inclosed  by  circles. 

railroad  stations.  The  farmers  have  unloaded  the  milk  from  their 
wagons  to  the  platform  before  the  arrival  of  the  train,  and  while 
the  train  waits  they  rush  the  cans  into  the  car.  This  picture  is,  in 
fact,  characteristic  of  market-milk  production  in  many  other  parts 
of  the  country,  similar  conditions  and  scenes  being  found  in  every 
State  where  milk  is  produced  for  and  shipped  to  a  city  market. 

In  the  construction  of  the  new  Union  Station  at  Washington  pro- 
vision was  made  for  the  convenient  and  prompt  handling  of  milk 
by  a  siding  and  platform  600  feet  long  at  the  rear  of  the  station,  to 


BUL.  138,  BUREAU  OF  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY,  U.  S.  DEPT.  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


PLATE  V. 


FIG.  1.— LOADING  A  MILK  CAR  BEFORE  SUNRISE  IN  VIRGINIA. 


FIG.  2.— UNLOADING  MILK  FROM  AN  ELECTRIC  CAR  IN  A  WASHINGTON  STREET. 
HANDLING    MILK    FOR    WASHINGTON. 


BUL.  138,  BUREAU  OF  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY,  U.  S.  DEPT.  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


PLATE  VI. 


FIQ.  1.— SCENE  AT  MILK  PLATFORM  AT  OLD  BALTIMORE  &  OHIO  STATION. 


FIG.  2.— MILK  PLATFORM  AT  NEW  UNION  STATION. 
UNLOADING    MILK    AT     RAILROAD    STATIONS    IN     WASHINGTON. 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF   WASHINGTON.  33 

which  the  cars  can  be  quickly  shifted  on  arrival.  (PI.  VI,  fig.  2.)  The 
cars  are  for  the  most  part  due  to  arrive  between  8  and  9.30  o'clock 
a.  m.,  although,  on  account  of  the  lack  of  refrigeration,  afternoon 
shipments  are  sometimes  made  in  summer. 

Electric  railroads  are  utilized  for  milk  shipments  into  Washington 
more  than  in  many  places  of  this  size,  and  one  road  brings  in  milk 
by  the  carload.  (PL  V,  fig.  2.) 

FREIGHT   RATES. 

Most  of  the  milk  shipments  are  in  40-quart  cans,  though  some 
twenties  and  thirties  are  used.  The  freight  rate  on  the  steam  roads 
is  from  2  to  3  cents  a  gallon,  according  to  distance.  Most  of  the 
milk  comes  from  the  2^-cent  zone,  making  the  average  freight  a 
little  over  half  a  cent  (0.6  cent)  a  quart.  On  the  electric  roads  the 
rate  ranges  from  one-half  cent  to  14-  cents  a  gallon.  The  custom 

o  **  <— ' 

prevails  of  making  the  same  charge  for  cream  as  for  milk.  Freight 
is  paid  by  tickets  attached  to  the  cans. 

THE  PRODUCERS. 

The  1,091  farmers  who  produce  milk  for  the  District  of  Columbia 
have  herds  averaging  about  16  cows  in  each.  Only  32  exceed  50 
cows,  and  only  4  farmers  have  herds  exceeding  100  cows  each.  On 
the  other  hand,  230  farmers  have  10  cows  or  less.  The  great  majority 
of  the  herds  number  from  10  to  30  cows  each.  The  tendency,  how- 
ever, is  to  increase  the  size  of  the  herds.  The  statistics  show  that 
there  is  a  decreasing  number  of  producers,  while  the  growing  needs 
of  the  city  call  for  the  product  from  an  increasing  number  of  cows. 

Conditions  attending  the  production  of  milk  are  improving.  The 
District  health  department,  although  hampered  by  limitations  which 
will  be  referred  to  later,  has  done  commendable  work  in  eliminating 
some  of  the  worst  features  connected  with  the  production  of  the  local 
milk  supply.  In  1906-7,  241  cows  were  condemned  as  unfit  for  milk 
production,  and  in  1908-9,  220  were  condemned.  The  farms  sup- 
plying the  milk  were  scored  by  the  Dairy  Division  in  1906-7,  the 
average  score  being  43.44,  and  300  sc'ored  in  the  thirties  or  below, 
the  latter  scores  indicating  conditions  which  would  warrant  exclud- 
ing the  product  of  such  dairies  from  the  market.  Ventilation  was 
the  condition  which  scored  lowest;  next  to  the  lowest  was  removal 
of  manure;  and  next,  light.  Other  noticeably  bad  conditions  related 
to  cooling  the  milk,  cleanliness  of  milking,  cleanliness  of  stable  yard, 
and  construction  of  stable.  Marked  improvement  has  been  made 
since  then,  but  Dr.  W.  C.  Woodward,  the  District  health  officer, 
says: 

The  improvement  seems  slow.  The  public,  however,  which  has  been  for  many 
years  so  tolerant  of  insanitary  conditions  on  the  dairy  farm,  must  realize  that  existing 


34  MILK   SUPPLY   OP   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 

conditions  are  due  to  its  own  ignorance  and  neglect  quite  as  much  as  to  the  ignorance 
and  neglect  of  the  farmer. 

Sixty-two  dairymen,  keeping  734  cows,  reside  within  the  District 
limits  and  retail  their  product  without  the  intervention  of  middle- 
men.1 Milk  is  also  brought  into  the  District  by  wagons  from  about 
25  villages,  18  miles  being  the  longest  haul.  Much  of  this  wagon 
milk  is  retailed  by  the  producer,  though  a  considerable  proportion 
of  it  is  taken  to  the  city  milk  plants  and  handled  the  same  as  railroad 
milk. 

METHODS  OF  HANDLING  MILK  IN  THE  CITY. 

The  District  of  Columbia  has  about  79  middlemen  who  have  regu- 
lar milk  plants.  This  is  a  larger  number  than  is  usual  in  places  of 
this  size.  By  a  localism  these  dealers  are  called  "dairymen"  and 
their  plants  are  called  "dairies."  The  latter  include  a  wide  range 
of  conditions,  from  the  establishment  in  the  rear  basement  of  some 
dwelling  with  meager  light  and  air  to  the  up-to-date  place  with  a 
full  equipment  of  modern  machinery.  (See  Pis.  VII  and  VIII.)  The 
dealers  do  a  business  ranging  from  50  to  2,000  gallons  a  day.  An 
unusually  large  proportion  of  the  milk  business  of  the  city  is  done 
by  small  dealers,  and  there  is  less  of  a  tendency  to  concentration 
than  is  noticeable  in  some  other  places.  Although  4  per  cent  of 
the  dealers  do  one  fourth  of  the  entire  business,  the  smallest  dealers 
(69  per  cent  of  the  whole)  do  another  fourth.  Between  these  there 
are  9  per  cent  that  do  a  fourth,  and  the  remaining  18  per  cent  another 
fourth  of  the  business.  In  other  words,  13  per  cent  (the  larger 
dealers)  do  one  half  the  business,  and  the  smaller  dealers  (87  per 
cent  of  all)  do  the  other  half. 

Some  of  the  small  plants  are  open  to  criticism  from  the  sanitary 
standpoint,  a  prominent  fault  being  the  intermingling  of  domestic 
and  business  life  on  account  of  the  small  business  done.  Yet  all 
are  constantly  improving,  and  the  good  work  of  the  health  depart- 
ment is  noticeable  on  every  hand.  All  milk  rooms  are  required  to 
have  clean  cement  floors,  tidy,  well-whitewashed  walls,  and  good 
drainage,  being  connected  with  city  sewers.  Four  per  cent  of  the 
dealers  score  90  or  above;  16  per  cent  score  80  or  above;  49  per  cent 
score  70  or  above;  25  per  cent  score  60  or  above;  6  per  cent  score 
50  or  above. 

Milk  on  reaching  the  dealers'  plants  has  in  the  great  majority  of 
cases  been  from  four  to  seven  hours  in  transit,  frequently  without 
any  refrigeration.  It  is  usually  cooled  to  some  extent  on  the  farm. 
It  reaches  the  city  plants  between  10  and  12  o'clock  a.  m.;  and  is 
cooled  at  once.  In  most  cases  this  is  done  by  placing  the  cans  in 
tanks  of  ice  water.  Some  of  these  tanks  are  primitive  wooden  boxes 

i  The  total  number  of  separate  premises  in  the  District  upon  which  cows  are  kept  is  561. 


But.  138,  BUREAU  OF  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY,  U.  S.  DEPT.  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


PLATE  VII. 


FIG.  1.— PLACE  IN   REAR  OF  BASEMENT,  WITH  ONLY  ONE  SMALL  WINDOW,  SHOWN  AT 
REAR  WHEEL  OF  WAGON. 


FIG.  2.— SMALL  REAR  SHED. 
UNDESIRABLE    WASHINGTON     MILK    PLANTS. 


BUL.  138,  BUREAU  OF  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY,  U.  S.  DEPT.  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


PLATE  VIII. 


FIG.  1.— INTERIOR  OF  A  LARGE,  CLEAN,  WELL-EQUIPPED  PLANT. 


FIQ.  2.— CEMENT  COOLING  TANK  IN  COLD-STORAGE  ROOM  OF  LARGE  PLANT. 
VIEWS    IN     HIGH-CLASS    WASHINGTON     MILK    PLANTS. 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF   WASHINGTON.  35 

more  or  less  worn  and  decayed,  musty,  and  moldy.  Others  are 
clean  and  thoroughly  constructed,  made  of  cement  with  metal  edges 
(PI.  VIII,  fig.  2).  After  the  milk  is  cooled  it  is  bottled  and  then  put 
in  cold  storage  until  time  for  the  morning  delivery.  Only  a  few 
years  ago  most  of  the  milk  was  bottled  by  hand,  even  in  some  of  the 
largest  establishments,  but  more  bottling  machines  are  being  intro- 
duced. During  the  summer  some  dealers  prefer  to  hold  the  milk 
on  ice  in  the  receiving  cans  and  bottle  early  in  the  morning  just 
before  delivery.  Icing  on  delivery  wagons  is  not  common.  Some 
of  the  milkmen  have  machinery  for  filtering  and  pasteurizing,  and 
some  have  refrigerating  outfits;  many  have  boilers  furnishing  an 
abundance  of  hot  water  and  steam  for  cleansing  purposes.  The 
tendency  to  pasteurization  is  on  the  increase,  and  six  of  the  largest 
dealers  now  pasteurize  most  of  their  product. 

DEALERS'  AND  PRODUCERS'  ORGANIZATIONS. 

The  milk  dealers  of  the  District  have  an  organization  known  as 
the  "Dairymen's  Association  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  Maryland, 
and  Virginia."  The  producers,  of  whom  there  are  about  1,000,  also 
have  an  organization  called  "Milk  Producers'  Association  of  Mary- 
land, Virginia,  and  the  District  of  Columbia." 

WHOLESALE  AND  RETAIL  PRICES. 

The  price  to  the  farmers  is  made  for  six-months  periods,  Novem- 
ber 1  and  May  1.  The  ordinary  summer  price  some  tune  ago  was 
12£  cents  and  13  cents  a  gallon,  and  the  winter  price  17  to  18  cents. 
During  the  winter  of  1906—7  as  high  as  20  cents  was  paid  in  some 
instances.  The  wholesale  price  for  the  summer  of  1909  was  14  to 
16  cents  a  gallon,  and  the  producers'  association  fixed  a  price  of  22 
cents  for  the  winter  of  1909-10.  More  is  paid  for  milk  produced 
and  handled  under  special  sanitary  conditions.  The  farmers  pay  the 
freight,  furnish  the  cans,  and  sell  the  milk  "delivered  in  Washing- 
ton in  good  condition."  In  dealings  between  the  producer  and  the 
dealer  there  are  as  a  rule  no  written  contracts,  only  oral  agreements. 
In  most  cases  the  trade  is  for  a  stated  amount  daily. 

The  retail  price  ranges  from  8  to  10  cents  a  quart,  according  to 
quality.  Ordinary  milk  sells  at  8  cents  in  summer  and  9  cents  in 
winter. 

LAWS  AND  INSPECTION. 

A  milk  law  enacted  by  Congress  for  the  District  of  Columbia 
became  effective  in  March,  1895,  and  milk  inspection  in  the  District 
dates  from  that  year. 


36  MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 

Concerning  this  law  Dr.  William  C.  Woodward,  the  health  officer, 

says : 1 

Experience  soon  revealed  defects,  and  efforts  were  promptly  made  to  correct 
them.  *  *  *  The  result  has,  however,  not  been  encouraging.  Bills  introduced 
on  recommendation  of  the  health  officer  and  receiving  the  indorsement  of  the  Com- 
missioners and  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  District  of  Columbia  have  been  uniformly 
opposed  by  milk  interests.  The  fight  to  obtain  better  legislation  to  regulate  the  sale 
of  milk  has  always  been  carried  to  the  committee  room  at  the  Capitol,  and  the  fight 
has  always  been  lost. 

In  spite  of  its  defects,  the  law  has  proved  very  helpful  in  raising  the 
quality  of  the  District  milk  supply  and  reducing  infant  mortality. 

The  health  department  had  no  milk  bacteriologist  until  1910  and 
up  to  that  time  had  made  no  bacteriological  inspections  of  milk, 
while  many  cities  had  had  a  bacteriological  laboratory  for  several 
years  and  considered  a  bacteriologist  fully  as  important  as  a  chemist 
in  the  inspection  of  milk.  The  appropriation  act  approved  May, 
1910,  provided  $500  for  the  equipment  and  maintenance  of  such  a 
laboratory  and  authorized  the  bacteriologist  who  had  been  employed 
for  contagious  diseases  service  to  undertake  the  bacteriological  exam- 
ination of  milk  and  the  water  supply  of  dairy  farms. 

The  law  of  1895  contains  many  provisions  ordinarily  found  in 
such.  laws.  A  system  of  licenses  or  permits  is  provided  for.  A  pro- 
ducer who  retails  his  own  product  is  required  to  have  two  permits, 
one  as  a  dealer  and  one  as  a  producer.  If  he  lives  outside  of  the 
District  his  producer's  permit  is  known  as  an  "importer's"  permit. 
The  dealer's  permit  is  known  as  a  "dairy"  permit.  The  law  contains 
the  unusual  provision  that  grocers,  bakers,  and  others  selling  milk 
shall  post  the  names  of  dairymen  from  whom  the  milk  is  obtained, 
but  does  not  require  them  to  have  a  license.  A  person  applying  for 
a  license  can  commence  business  at  once  pending  the  issuing  of  the 
license. 

A  general  food  law  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  passed  a  few 
years  after  the  milk-inspection  law,  establishes  a  milk  standard  of 
3£  per  cent  of  fat,  9  per  cent  of  solids  not  fat,  and  12£  per  cent  of 
total  solids. 

The  standard  for  cream  is  20  per  cent  fat,  18  per  cent  being  the 
enforceable  figure.  This  quality  is  usually  called  table  cream.  Dou- 
ble cream  has  40  per  cent  fat.  Not  much  of  the  latter  is  sold, 
although  considerable  of  the  shipments  from  a  distance  have  40  per 
cent  fat  to  save  freight  and  on  arrival  it  is  reduced  with  milk  to 
standard  or  20  per  cent  cream. 

By  an  order  issued  November  5,  1910,  relative  to  applications  for 
new  permits  if  all  cattle  on  the  dairy  farm  to  which  any  such  applica- 

i  "The  municipal  regulation  of  the  milk  supply  of  the  District  of  Columbia,"  in  Bulletin  56  of  the 
Hygienic  Laboratory,  Public  Health  and  Marine-Hospital  Service,  p.  747, 1909. 


MILK  SUPPLY   OF   WASHINGTON.  37 

tion  relates  are  not  free  from  tuberculosis  as  shown  by  the  tuberculin 
test  the  application  will  be  rejected. 

The  enforcement  of  the  dairy  laws  is  placed  in  the  control  of  the 
District  health  department,  but  no  provision  is  made  for  a  distinc- 
tive milk  division  with  a  chief  responsible  for  the  milk  and  dairy 
inspection.  In  the  roU  of  officers  and  employees  of  the  health 
department  there  is  no  indication  of  anyone  giving  his  exclusive 
attention  to  milk  work.  The  department  has  17  "sanitary  and  food 
inspectors,"  and  one  of  these  gives  most  of  his  time  to  inspecting 
city  milk  plants,  while  another  is  assigned  to  collecting  samples. 
There  are  five  veterinarians  acting  as  inspectors  who  give  most  of 
their  time  to  farm  inspection,  although  they  have  to  do  also  with 
rabies,  glanders,  and  abattoir  inspection.  They  are  also  permitted 
to  engage  in  private  practice  on  account  of  their  small  salaries,  hence 
their  undivided  energies  can  not  be  given  to  dairy  work.  The  pro- 
ducing territory  is  divided  into  districts  having  from  123  to  205 
milk-producing  farms  in  each,  according  to  their  location,  and  a 
veterinary  inspector  has  charge  of  each  district.  The  general  super- 
vision of  the  country  work  is  intrusted  to  the  chief  clerk  in  the  health 
office,  and  that  of  the  city  work  to  the  chief  inspector.  The  general 
chemist  of  the  health  office  makes  all  of  the  milk  analyses. 

The  national  pure-food  law  gives  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  authority  to  enforce  it  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  in  the 
Territories,  and  in  interstate  and  foreign  commerce.  The  District 
health  officer  and  his  assistants  have  therefore  been  appointed  col- 
laborating officials  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  to  collect 
samples,  conduct  hearings,  and  bring  cases  to  the  attention  of  the  dis- 
trict attorney.  The  pure-food  law  also  requires  that  analyses  shall  be 
made  under  the  general  direction  of  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry.  Con- 
sequently one  of  the  chemists  in  the  office  of  the  District  health 
officer  has  been  appointed  a  collaborating  chemist  of  the  Bureau  of 
.  Chemistry. 

The  District  health  department  has  done  commendable  work  in 
milk  inspection  with  inadequate  powers  and  means  and  under  adverse 
conditions.  The  health  officer  himself  has  frequently  called  atten- 
tion to  the  weaknesses  of  the  situation.  In  his  report  for  1907  he 
said: 

The  work  that  the  service  has  accomplished  has  been  well  done,  but  it  could  have 
been  more  intelligently  and  better  done  if  provision  had  been  made  whereby  some 
one  person  in  the  department  could  be,  by  the  health  officer,  held  responsible  for  the 
proper  conduct  of  the  service. 

The  expense  of  milk  inspection  in  the  District  can  only  be  approxi- 
mated. Salaries  aggregating  $10,900  are  paid  to  inspectors  who  give 
most  of  their  time  to  milk  work,  and  it  is  estimated  that  a  proper  pro 
rata  of  other  salaries  and  expenses  chargeable  to  the  milk  service  is 
$4,900,  making  the  total  expense  of  milk  inspection  $15,800. 


38 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF   CHICAGO  AND   WASHINGTON. 


Congress  has  given  the  health  department  power  to  make  regula- 
tions relative  to  water  supply,  drainage,  ventilation,  air  space,  floor 
space,  and  cleaning  of  milk  plants  and  dairies  within  the  District. 
Besides  this,  Congress  requires  that  persons  who  bring  or  send  milk 
into  the  District  shall  have  a  permit,  which  the  health  officer  is  given 
power  to  withhold  or  revoke  for  cause.  He  has  therefore  a  lever  with 
which  he  can  do  much  in  improving  the  methods  of  milk  production. 

A  most  remarkable  fall  in  the  death  rate  among  infants  from  diar- 
rheal  diseases  began  with  the  establishment  of  milk  inspection  in  1895 
and  has  progressed  as  the  efficiency  of  that  service  has  been  increased. 


FIG.  6.— Chart  showing  decrease  in  death  rate  from  diarrhea  and  enteritis  in  children  under  2  years  of 
age  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  following  enactment  of  milk  law  of  1895.  Dotted  lines  show  averages 
for  five-year  periods. 

This  decrease  in  mortality  is  graphically  shown  in  figure  6,  which  is 
reproduced  from  Dr.  Woodward's  paper  in  Hygienic  Laboratory  Bul- 
letin 56  and  is  brought  down  to  1910  with  information  furnished  by 
the  District  health  department. 

The  improvement  in  the  chemical  quality  of  milk  samples  collected 
about  the  city  is  shown  by  the  following  table,  which  gives  the  per- 
centage of  samples  below  the  standard  during  a  period  of  four  years: 

Per  cent. 

1903-4 27.50 

1904-5 20.32 

1905-6 12.37 

1906-7 10.95 

1907-8 


MILK   SUPPLY   OF  WASHINGTON.  39 

During  the  fiscal  year  1906-7,  883  farms  were  inspected,  on  an 
average,  4.4  times  each;  4,960  samples  of  milk  and  cream  were  taken 
and  analyzed;  77  milk  plants  were  inspected  an  average  of  22.8  times; 
289  cases  were  prosecuted;  and  139  requests  for  producers'  permits 
were  refused.  During  the  year  1908-9  there  were  4,294  inspections  of 
farms  upon  which  were  16,116  cows;  6,659  samples  of  milk  and  101 
samples  of  cream  were  collected  and  135  cases  were  prosecuted,  of 
which  130  resulted  in  convictions.  Of  the  samples  analyzed,  412  of 
milk  and  45  of  cream  were  found  to  be  adulterated,  and  243  of  milk 
were  below  the  standard  (3.5  per  cent)  in  fat. 

A   MILK-STANDARD    DECISION. 

As  there  is  considerable  agitation  over  the  milk  standard  in  various 
places,  a  decision  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
rendered  November  5,  1903,  is  of  interest.  The  defense  offered  to 
show  that  3.5  per  cent  of  fat,  "  the  standard  prescribed,  was  unreason- 
ably high  and  could  not  by  ordinary  care  be  maintained  through  all 
seasons  of  the  year."  The  trial  court  refused  to  admit  this  evidence. 
The  court  of  appeals  sustained  this  ruling,  saying: 

If  the  proposition  of  the  defendant  were  sustained,  the  question  of  the  reasonable- 
ness of  the  statute  would  be  one  of  fact  for  the  jury,  and  we  should  likely  have  different 
juries  determining  the  question  in  different  ways. 

The  court  also  said: 

To  declare  an  act  of  Congress  unreasonable  and  oppressive,  and  therefore  void,  is  a 
power  that  the  courts  can  not  exercise  except  when  the  provision  of  the  statute  is 
shown  to  be  plainly  violative  of  some  provision  of  the  Constitution.  The  subject 
matter  of  the  act  of  1898  [a  statutory  milk  standard]  is  plainly  within  the  power  of 
Congress,  and  the  courts  can  not  amend  or  modify  any  of  the  provisions  of  that  act 
so  as  to  bring  them  within  what  may  seem  to  be  reasonable  bounds.  They  can  not 
examine  a  question  as  expedient  or  inexpedient,  as  politic  or  impolitic. 

The  court  also  held  that  in  case  of  food  laws  the  question  of  intent 
is  not  involved;  the  party  making  a  sale  is  bound  at  his  peril  to  know 
what  he  is  selling. 

FEDERAL  COOPERATION. 

The  milk  supply  of  the  District  receives  considerable  attention  from 
the  Federal  Government,  and  Federal  officers  are  of  material  assist- 
ance to  the  District  authorities.  The  Public  Health  and  Marine- 
Hospital  Service  made  an  exhaustive  study  during  the  summer  of  1906 
of  the  prevalence  of  typhoid  fever.  (See  Hygienic  Laboratory  Bul- 
letin 34.)  Bulletin  56,  "Milk  and  its  Kelation  to  Public  Health," 
from  the  same  laboratory  also  contains  the  result  of  much  investiga- 
tion into  local  conditions. 

The  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
has  also  been  greatly  interested  in  the  District  milk  supply  and  has 
issued  Circulars  111,  114,  and  153  relating  to  the  local  conditions. 


40  MILK   SUPPLY  OF   CHICAGO  AND  WASHINGTON. 

Since  1907  the  bureau  has  gratuitously  tested  with  tuberculin  cows 
supplying  the  District  with  milk,  the  tests  being  made  upon  request 
of  the  owners  of  the  herds.  Out  of  4,200  tests  (including  1,729  re- 
tests)  12.93  per  cent  of  the  cows  proved  tuberculous.  Of  the  animals 
tested  for  the  first  time  15.25  per  cent  reacted,  and  9.16  per  cent  of 
those  retested  reacted.  These  tests  include  many  herds  in  Maryland 
and  Virginia. 

In  the  latter  part  of  November,  1909,  the  bureau  began  the  sys- 
tematic testing  of  all  cattle  in  the  District  of  Columbia  under  a  coop- 
erative arrangement  with  the  District  Commissioners  and  in  accord- 
ance with  an  order  of  the  commissioners,  approved  by  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture,  issued  November  26,  1909,  for  the  suppression  and 
prevention  of  tuberculosis  in  cattle  within  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Under  this  order  the  tuberculin  testing  of  all  cows"  within  the  District 
has  now  been  accomplished,  the  reactors  have  been  slaughtered,  the 
owners  indemnified  for  the  loss  of  tuberculous  animals,  and  the  premi- 
ses disinfected.  The  number  of  cattle  tested  was  1,701,  of  which  321, 
or  18.87  per  cent,  reacted  and  were  slaughtered,  lesions  of  tuberculosis 
being  found  on  post-mortem  examination  in  all  but  5  of  the  carcasses.1 
Cattle  are  being  retested  after  the  lapse  of  six  months  in  order  to 
detect  any  cases  of  tuberculosis  that  may  have  developed  since  pre- 
vious tests.  All  dairy  cattle  brought  into  the  District  must  be  shown 
by  the  tuberculin  test  to  be  free  from  tuberculosis. 

Material  assistance  has  also  been  rendered  by  the  bureau  in  inves- 
tigating a  recent  outbreak  of  typhoid  fever.  The  Dairy  Division  of 
the  bureau  has  examined  and  scored  every  dairy  farm  contributing  to 
the  District  supply  and  every  dealer's  establishment  in  the  District 
and  has  cooperated  with  the  District  inspectors  in  the  use  of  the  score 
card. 

1  A  report  of  this  work  is  made  by  Dr.  R.  W.  Hickman,  chief  of  the  Quarantine  Division  of  the  Bureau 
of  Animal  Industry,  in  a  paper  in  the  Yearbook  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1910. 

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